
Glass i!_7Sa 

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IN AND J ROUND THE 
GRAND CANTON 




Temples and Buttes to the East from the Grand Scenic 

Divide. 



IN (^AROUND THE 
GRAND CANYON 

THE GRAND CANTON OF THE 
COLORADO RIVER IN ARIZONA 

By GEORGE WHARTON JAMES 

W^ITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 




BOSTON . LITTLE, BROWN, AND 
COMPANY . NINETEEN HUNDRED 



1 






Copyright, I goo, by 
George Wharton James 



7fi586 



Library of Cont^resa 

Tw(i Copies Re' r''"^o i 

NOV 16 1900 

SECOND COPY 

Ocdvifod to 



UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON 
AND SON . CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 




TO 



JOHN WESLEY POWELL 

Scholar, Warrior, Scientist, Gentleman, Friend 

director for fourteen years of the u. s. geological survey 

organizer and director for twenty years of 

the u. s. bureau of ethnology 

whose explorations of the canyons of the colorado in the 

interests of science confirm him one of the bravest, 

most heroic, and daring explorers 

of the century 



PREFACE 



THIS book is a growth of ten years' visits to 
the most siibhme spectacle of earth. Hence 
it is not an ordinary book of hasty travel and hur- 
ried description, but is the accumulated result of 
renewed visits and many explorations. 

I desire that it should stimulate the interest of 
those who know but little of the wonders of the 
Grand Canyon ; and serve as a useful handbook to 
the Canyon traveller before, during, and after his 
trip. 

There are far more trails into the heart of the 
Grand Canyon region than many professed experts 
even suspect. On the south walls there are ten, 
and another ten or more into the fascinating Cata- 
ract Canyon, where dwell the Havasupai Indians, 
The ten trails of the Grand Canyon region, begin- 
ning at Lee's Ferry eastwards, and continuing south- 
west to Diamond Creek, are as follows : 

1. Lee's Ferry. Reached by wagon from Wins- 
low, Canyon Diablo, Flagstaff, and other points on 
the Santa Fe Railway. 

2. The Marble Canyon Trail, not far from the 
Shinumo Altar. This trail was used by Navahos 
and Paiutis for many years. It was recently blown 
up with dynamite and rendered impassable by cattle 



viii PREFACE 

men, to prevent cattle thieves from crossing the 
river with stolen stock. 

3. The old Hopi (Moki) Salt Trail into the Little 
Colorado and Grand Canyons. Reached from the 
Hopi villages. 

4. The Tanner Trail, a few miles west of the 
Little Colorado River. This trail can now be 
reached on horseback or by conveyance from the 
terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway. 

5. The Red Canyon Trail. This was the trail 
used in the years 1895-98 by the tourists who 
w^ere taken to the Canyon by stage from Flag- 
staff. It was incorrectly called " the new Hance 
Trail." 

6. The Old Trail, incorrectly known as " the 
Hance Trail." This was the first trail used by 
tourists taken to the Canyon from Flagstaff, prior 
to the opening of the Red Canyon Trail. As else- 
w^here explained, it was in use by the Plavasupai 
Indians for untold centuries. Hance improved it 
and located upon it. It is now washed out and 
practically inaccessible. The scenery about the 
head of this trail has become so familiar that it is 
fully pictured herein. 

7. The Grand View Trail. This is the trail to 
which tourists were taken from Flagstaff in the 
years 1897-99. ^^ was and is a great improve- 
ment in every way over the Red Canyon and Old 
Trails, and will still afford great satisfaction to the 
tourist who desires to visit it. Stages or other con- 
veyances run from the terminus of the Grand Can- 
yon Railway, or the horseback rider will find it an 



PREFACE ix 

easy ride to go over the trail along the rim from the 
head of the Bright Angel Trail to the Grand View 
Trail. 

8. The Bright Angel Trail. This is the trail 
reached by the Grand Canyon Railway. The hotel 
is located at the terminus of the line and within a 
few hundred feet of the rim. Its scenic Points are 
Hopi, Cyclorama, and O'Neill, — the former being a 
vast promontory thrusting its nose into the heart of 
the Canyon to the west of the hotel, the latter being 
within half a mile of the hotel to the east. 

9. The Mystic Spring Trail, owned by Mr. W. 
W. Bass, whose Canyon experiences I have deemed 
worthy of extended notice in these pages. This 
is twenty-two miles west of the Grand Canyon Rail- 
way terminus, and is reached by regular stages, 
special conveyance, or horseback. 

10. The Peach Springs Road to the mouth of 
Diamond Creek and the Colorado River. Reached 
from Peach Springs on the Santa Fe Railway. 

In the following pages I shall describe — briefly or 
otherwise — and picture all these roads and trails, 
except numbers two, three, and four, which are now 
practically inaccessible. 

For ten years the only method of travel to the 
Grand Canyon was by stage, from Flagstaff, Wil- 
liams, or Ashfork. While the major part of the 
visitors journeyed from Flagstaff, I have described 
the less known route from Ashfork. Now, the 
general visitor leaves the Santa Fe transcontinental 
line at Williams, and, over the tracks of the Santa 
Fe & Grand Canyon Railway, crosses the Painted 



X PREFACE 

Desert in a parlor or Pullman car as herein 
described. 

My preference for the simple and unaccented 
English "canyon" over the Spanish accented 
" canon " is so marked that I can but characterize 
as "wilfully perverse" those who persist in burden- 
ing our already overweighted language with a new 
and foreign accent for which there is no necessity. 

After consultation with Major J. W. Powell, 
former Director, and the Hon. C. D. Walcott, present 
Director of the United States Geological Survey, I 
have named, with their signal approval, the great 
promontories or points of the south wall of this peer- 
less gorge after the Indian tribes of the region; and 
have given the names of the noted earlier and later 
explorers of our Southwest, and of the great geolo- 
gists of the world, to those marked interior features 
of the Canyon seen from popular points of view. 
To do this it has been necessary to change four 
names. These were Bissell, Moran, Grand View, and 
Rowe Points, which have been called Comanche, 
Ute, Paiuti, and Hopi Points, to correspond with 
Havasupai, Mohave, Chemehuevi, Wallapai, and 
Apache Points farther west and south. 

And now a few words as to where this book was 
written and compiled. In as many and varied 
places, almost, as ever book was transcribed on 
paper. While stopping for a few moments' rest in 
descending trails ; in the darkness of the night in 
the depths of the Canyon ; on the driver's seat or 
inside of the jolting stage; stretched on a roll of 
blankets in a springless wagon ; in the heart of a 



PREFACE 



XI 



fierce storm on the Painted Desert ; shivering, wet 
through, at night in a side gorge of the Bright 
Angel Trail ; wearied out, waiting for water and 
a horse after an exhausting three days in Trail 
Canyon ; stretched on the sand, with the fierce roar 
of the demons of the Colorado River in my ear; 




The Author at Work at his Camp in the Grand 
Canyon. 



under the trees at Lee's Ferry; baking in the sun 
near Willow Spring; on the summit of the San 
Francisco Mountains ; on Williams Mountain, Sun- 
set Peak, or in the deepest depths of the Colorado 
waterway; on the plateaux above, or by the side of 
Havasu — the blue water — of Cataract Creek ; on 
foot and on horseback, in bed and in cave, — any- 
where, everywhere, whenever a scene demanded 



xii PREFACE 

description or a thouglit suggested written expres- 
sion, there a part of this book was born. 

And here where I am completing and finally 
arranging it — what book ever had such a compos- 
ing room ! Under the shelter of an overhanging 
rock with pinion boughs piled up and canvas 
stretched to completely exclude the sun all day; the 
purest air of earth freely circulating around me, and 
the bluest sky of earth ever above me ; below, the 
brink of the greatest ororo^e known to man, and with 
its wonders daily and nightly spread out before me ; 
Huethawali, Le Conte Plateau, Mystic Spring 
Plateau, Dutton Point and Powell Arch, and the 
srreat mural fronts of the north wall ever confront- 
ing me ; now and again aroused by strong breezes 
blowing through the pinion and juniper trees that 
dot the sloping talus at my feet ; anon thundered 
and rained upon in the fierce and sharp storm, but, 
generally, in an absolute stillness that can be felt 
and that the poet must have experienced when he 

wrote : — 

" Few are the spots so deathly still, 
So wrapt in deep eternal gloom ; 
No sound is heard of sylvan rill, 
A voiceless silence seems to fill 
The air around this rocky tomb." 

My paper-weights are pieces of limestone, my 
shelf a rude deal box, my side desk a huge boulder, 
my table made in rough camp style, with my seat 
— a packing box — at one end, and my blankets 
stretched on the solid rock at the other end, — this 
is where, and these the circumstances under which, 



PREFACE xiii 

the tangled threads of description of the past decade 
are being woven into the warp and woof of con- 
nected story. Hence, whatever of reprobation or 
commendation this book may call forth, it possesses 
at least one virtue, and that is, of being the highest 
and best endeavor of which the author is capable, 
to present truthfully the scenes described under 
their own inspiration. 

GEORGE WHARTON JAMES. 

Author Amphitheatre, Bass Camp, 
Grand Canyon, August, 1899. 



INTRODUCTION 



FOR magnificent majesty, gorgeous coloring, and 
multiplicity of sculptured forms the Grand 
Canyon of the Colorado River has no rival in the 
world. Three hundred and fifty years ago Cardenas 
and his band of Spanish explorers, sent by the con- 
quistador Coronado from Zuni, tried to reach its 
deeply embedded river, but wearily gave up the 
attempt. Many, in the years since, have stood upon 
its awful brink and gazed upon the tiny silvery 
thread below, and have endeavored to reach it, — 
generally in vain. Lieutenant Ives of the United 
States Corps of Topographical Engineers tried to 
make his way into the heart of the mystical Canyon 
from the open river of the desert below, but was 
driven back, baffled and disheartened, by the fierce 
and raging stream. Then he started to explore it 
from above, and, after many days of wearisome 
journeyings, wrote: — 

" This region can be approached only from the south, 
and after entering it there is nothing to do but to leave. 
Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last party 
of whites to visit this profitless locality." 

In 1871 Captain George M. Wheeler, with a band 
of able assistants and brave men, ascended far above 
the spot from which Ives had been driven, and in 
thirt3^-three days of frightful hardship and incredible 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

risks and dangers explored the mouth of the Grand 
Canyon up as far as Diamond Creek. 

In the mean time Major John Wesley Powell 
was making in 1869-71 those full and exhaustive 
explorations and accomplishing that never suffi- 
ciently lauded trip of his down the waters of the 
Colorado that changed our knowledge of the canyons 
of this great waterway from fragment and conjecture 
to completeness and certainty. 

These and other explorations are more fully 
described in later chapters, mainly in the explorers' 
own vivid and fresh words, and published largely 
in stern government records. They are more 
thrilling than the wildest romances, and exhibit 
exciting pictures of men who, in the interests of 
science and knowledge, quietly and calmly faced 
the most frightful dangers and risked awful death 
so often that they became unconscious of their 
sublime heroism. To read and picture such scenes, 
powerfully and healthfully stimulates the soul, and, 
in these da3^s of money-getting and militarism, it is 
well not to overlook the glorious deeds of our 
"heroes of peace." 

In the arrangement of this book I have first of 
all described the Colorado River and its series of 
connecting canyons. Then, after allotting due space 
to condensed narrations of the various exploring 
parties, I have described the stage and railway rides 
to the Canyon from the main line of the Santa Fe 
route. After recording a few of the " First Im- 
pressions " many visitors have written, I ask the 
reader to accompany me to various portions of the 
" rim " of the Canyon and make the descent down 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

all the easily accessible trails to the river, viz., The 
Grand View, Bright Angel, Mystic Spring, and 
Peach Springs Trails, after which several chapters 
are devoted to the trails more difficult of access; 
then to the Cataract or Havasu Canyon ; the Hava- 
supai Indians; the waterfalls and caves of their 
canyon ; the Botany and Geology of the Grand 
Canyon ; with a final chapter on " Religious and 
other Impressions" felt and enjoyed at various 
times while under the Canyon's spell. 

If the record of the daring explorations of Ives, 
Powell, Wheeler, Stanton, and others, and of my 
own wanderings and adventures in this wondrous 
region in the heart of the United States, excites in 
the minds of my readers even a small part of my 
own enthusiasm, my years of toil, trial, deprivation, 
and accompanying pleasures will find most adequate 
and satisfactory complement. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Preface vii 

Introduction xv 

Chaptkr 

I. The Colorado River and its Canyons ... i 

II. Explorations from the Tlme of the Spaniards 

(1540) TO Major J. W. Powell (1S69) . . 11 

III. Explorations by Major J. W. Powell (1869-72) 20 

IV. Later Explorations 36 

V. Flagstaff, the San Francisco Mountains, the 
Cliff and Cave Dwellings, and the Dead 

Volcanoes 44 

VI. From the Santa Fe Railway to the Canyon 

BY Stage 53 

VII. To THE Canyon by Railway, and a Few Prac- 
tical Suggestions to the Tourist .... 65 

^TII. First Impressions 74 

IX. What does one See? 80 

X. On the Rim 87 

XI. The Grand View Trait 125 

XII. The Bright Angel Trail 130 

XIII. Two Days' Hunt for a Boat in a Side Gorge 

near the Bright Angel Trail 139 

XIV. The Mystic Spring 'Iran 147 

X\. Three Days of Exploring in Trail Canyon 

WITH the Wrong Companion 160 



XX CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

XVI. Mr. W. W. Bass and his Canyon Experiences . 171 

XVII. The Shinumo and its Ancient Inhabitants , 197 

XVIII. Peach Springs Trail 204 

XIX. Lee's Ferry and the Journey thither. . . 210 

XX. John D. Lee and the Mountain Meadows 

Massacre 223 

XXI. Up and Down Glen and Marble Canyons . 230 

XXII. The Old Hopi Salt Trail 239 

XXIII. The Tanner-French Trail 242 

XXIV. The Red Canyon and Old Trails . . . . 248 

XXV. Grand Canyon Forest Reserve . . . . . 253 

XXVI. The Topocobya Trail and Havasu (Cataract) 

Canyon 256 

XXVII. The Havasupai Indians and their Canyon 

Home 275 

XXVIII. Havasu (Cataract) Canyon and its Water- 
falls and Limestone Caves 289 

XXIX. An Adventure in Beaver Canyon .... 303 

XXX. The Geology of the Grand Canyon . . . 311 

XXXI. Botany of the Grand Canyon 321 

XXXII. Religious and other Impressions in the 

Grand Canyon 326 

XXXIII. Photographing the Grand Canyon . . . . 334 

Bibliography of the Grand Canyon Region .... 339 



ILLUSTRAriONS 



Temples and Buttes to the East from the Grand Scenic 

Divide Frontispiece 

A Dangerous Rapid in the Grand Canyon . . . Vignette on Title 

Major J. W. Powell Paoc v 

The Author at Work at his Camp in the Grand Canyon •' xi 
Across the Canyon from Grand Mew (Faiuti Point) — 
Newberry Terrace and Vishnu Temple well 

shown Facing page i 

Crude Sketch of Canyon Outline as seen from Paiuti, 

Hopi, or Havasupai Points ^'^g'^ 7 

Apache Point from Wallapai Point, showing Vaca Wall, 

Marcos Monument, and Alarcon Bend . . . Facing; page 12 

The Colorado River and the Needles, California . . . Page 16 

Major Powell's Boat in Glen Canyon " 21 

Dellenbaugh Butte, Green River " 23 

Bonito Bend " 26 

The Watering Troughs at Cedar Ranch on the Wav from 

Flagstaff to the Canyon " 45 

Tlie Flagstaff Stage in Sight of the San Francisco Moun- 
tains " 55 

Looking for the Caves " 57 

Button Point, Forty Miles Away " 63 

Sunset on the Rim of the Grand Canyon .... Facing page 68 

Ayer Peak, Overlooking the Old Trail " 74 

Two of the " Three Castles," Overlooking the Old 

Trail " 76 

The " Three Castles," Overlooking the Old Trail . . . Page 78 
Mount Observation and Dutton Point from Surprise Out- 
look Facing page 80 

Dutton Point and .Masonic Temple from the Grand 

Scenic Divide Page Si 

Kohonino Forest and Point from near Comanche Point . " 83 



xxii ILLUSTRATIONS 

Looking East from Paiuti Point. TInee Castles, Ayer 
Peak, Comanche and Navaho Points to the Right; 
Vishnu Temple, Cape Final, and Shinto Temple to 

the Left Facing page 86 

Angel Gate, Newberry Terrace, Buddha and Zo- 
roaster Temples from the Grand View Plateau " 90 

Eastern End of Mount Observation P'-^-g'^ 94 

Dick Pillar at the End of Grand Scenic Divide .... " 96 
In Trail Canyon, looking across to Bass Tomb and Dox 

Castle " 100 

Fossil Mountain " 102 

Darwin Wall — Evolution Amphitheatre ...... " 104 

Thor Hammer " 109 

The Author and his Burro " 113 

Shinumo Altar — Marble Canyon " 116 

Pompey Pillar " 117 

Vishnu Temple from Upper Plateau, Grand View Trail " 119 
Ancient Havasupai Lookout — Head of Mystic Spring 

Trail '' 123 

In the Granite at the Foot of Grand View Trail .... " 125 

Looking down to the River from the Grand View Trail Facing page 1 26 

Dendritic Formation in Caves — Grand View Trail . . Page 128 

Battleship Iowa on Bright Angel Trail " 131 

Pillars of Erosion on Bright Angel Trail .... Facing page 132 
The Colorado River from Angel Plateau, showing 

Zoroaster Temple and Angel Gate " 138 

" Dad," John, and W. W. Bass P^\i^^ '39 

O'Neill Point from Bright Angel Hotel . " 141 

Temporary Hotel at the Head of Bright Angel Trail . . " 144 

On the Mystic Spring Trail " 148 

The Colorado River from near Dick Pillar on the Grand 

Scenic Divide Facing page 150 

Seal Head Rock, near Mystic Spring P^gi^ '53 

Burros Drinking at Mystic Spring " 155 

Wheeler Fold in Trail Canyon " 157 

Tlie Ladder to the Spring at Bed Rock Camp .... " 158 
The Colorado River in the Inner Gorge at the Foot of the 

Mystic Spring Trail Facing page 158 

Looking down Trail Canyon Pi^g*^ 161 



ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii 

Joe, the Burro; Shep, the Dog; \V. \V. Bass, the Canyon 

Guide Page 174 

Near where McKinney was found by the Havasupais . . " 186 

W. W. Bass and his Indian Pony, Silver " 193 

Bass's Winter Camp on the Shinumo Facing page 196 

Crossing the Colorado River to the Shinumo Page 199 

Rocky Pillar at the Mouth of the Shinumo " 201 

On the Shinumo " 202 

At the Mouth of Diamond Creek in the Grand Canyon . " 204 

Powell Pyramid at the Foot of Peach Springs Trail . . " 206 

On the Way to Lee's Ferry " 210 

In the " Boxing " of the Little Colorado " 215 

Interior of Navaho Hogan " 217 

Mineral Spring in the Canyon of the Little Colorado . . " 219 
Looking across the Colorado River between the Upper and 

Lower Lee's Ferry to the Entrance of Paria Creek . " 221 

John D. Lee and his two Favorite Wives " 226 

A Bend in Glen Canyon of the Colorado River . . Facing page 230 

Panning Gold in Glen Canyon Page 233 

The Author swimming in the Colorado River .... " 234 
The Marble Canyon of the Colorado River . . . Facing page 234 

Noon Lunch in Glen Canyon Pa^e 236 

Soap Creek Rapids, below which Frank M. Brown lost 

his Life Facing page 238 

Salt Spring in the Little Colorado Canyon Pat^e 240 

The Work of Erosion on the Rim " 243 

Nonconformable Strata on Red Canyon Trail .... " 249 

The Colorado River at the Foot of the Old Trail ... '• 251 

The River from Ute Point Facing page 254 

At the Head of Topocobya Trail into Havasu Canyon " 256 

At the Topocobya Spring Pa<^e 261 

Overhanging Capitals on the Topocobya Trail .... " 263 

Shields and Pictographs on Walls of Havasu Canyon . . " 265 

In the Havasu Canyon " 267 

On the Topocobya Trail Steps, where Mrs. Long's Horse 

fell " 270 

To-hol-woh Frame " 280 

Navaho, the Kohot, or Chief of the Havasupais .... " 2S3 

Oldest Squaw of the Kohot Navaho " 284 



xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chick-a-pan-a-gi Page 285 

Man-a-ka-cha, present Kohot, or Chief of the Havasupais " 286 

Havasupai Girls playing Game of Hui-ta-qui'-chi-ka . . " 287 
Wig-li-i-wa and the Havasu (Bluewater) .... Facing page 288 

Navaho Falls, Havasu Canyon Page 289 

Bridal Veil Falls, Havasu Canyon " 293 

Havasu between Bridal Veil Falls and Mooney Fall . . '• 297 
Limestone Accretions in Havasu Canyon .... Facing page 298 

Havasu Canyon and Mooney Fall " 302 

Wa-lu-tha-ma telling the Story on our Return .... Page "^xo 

Strata of the Little Colorado, Figures A and B . . . . " 313 
On the Red Canyon Trail, showing Nonconformable 
Strata. Newberry Terrace and Vishnu Temple across 

the River " 314 

Lyell Monument in the Corner of Standing Rocks ... " 336 



IN AND ARO UNO the 
GRAND CANTON 

CHAPTER I 

THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS 

THE Colorado River is unlike any other great 
river in the world. For present purposes 
it seems to be almost useless. In a large part 
of its course it drains an arid country which 
needs every drop of water thus carried away. It 
is, therefore, a vampire curse instead of a fructi- 
fying blessing. It is inaccessible to the general 
traveller, who, standing on its banks and gazing 
upon its far-away stream, yet perishes with agoniz- 
ing thirst. No ordinary boat, whether propelled 
by oars, steam, or electricity, can live and either 
ascend or descend its turbulent waters. Practi- 
cally no fish are found in its undisturbed solitudes. 
Though the country through which it flows is 
dreadfully arid, it is so unaccommodating as to re- 
fuse to be piped or pumped by any simple method 
to relieve the Sahara above. 

Though its carrying power is enormous, no 
commerce can place useful loads upon its rudely 
tossing back. Though its electric potentiality 
is great, it refuses to yield a single volt for any 
useful purpose. It is the wild, untamed, fero- 
cious stallion of rivers, proud, self-willed, impetuous, 



rrp?«-'.Tv .■: "-■'"':. ' ■ — -- 








iri^«^ 



mEu^; 






-flMcsa^' 



■ '<. f- -^ >.:■■■ ^y.i. 



•'^, .*/.>•>>•'/«» ^(V^ "^» ' 




Lofiyright, IH'JX, by H ('■ I'eabody. 



Across thk Canyon, from Grand View (Paiuti Point) — Newberry Terrace and Vishnu Temit.e well shown. 



2 IN AND AROUND 

powerful, wholly unrestrained and unrestrainable, 
yet attractive, grand, and majestic. 

And it is well that man finds such intractable 
forces in nature. It is good for him to be held 
in check occasionally. It is not beneficial for the 
human to imao;ine that he is so divine that nothino^ 
earthly can withstand him. It is good to be made 
to bow and to wait. 

This great river, named by the Spaniards " Colo- 
rado," or the " Red," either because of the color of 
its water or the striking red which is the predomi- 
nating color of its walls, has its rise in the far-away 
snowy mountains of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and 
New Mexico. Its upper branches are the Green 
and the Grand rivers. The former of these, which 
is the upper continuation of the Colorado, has its 
source in Alpine lakes, fed by the everlasting snows 
of the mountains. It heads approximately in lati- 
tude 43° 15' and longitude 109° 45'. 

"Thousands of these little lakes, with deep, cold, emer- 
ald waters, are embosomed among the crags of the Rocky 
Mountains. These streams, born in the cold, gloomy 
solitudes of the upper mountain region, have a strange, 
eventful history as they pass down through gorges, tum- 
bling in cascades and cataracts, until they reach the hot, 
arid plains of the Lower Colorado, where the waters that 
were so clear above, empty, as turbid floods, into the Gulf 
of California, in latitude 31° 53' and longitude 115°." — 
J. W. Powell. 

There are two distinct portions of the basin of 
the Colorado, — the lower third and the upper two- 
thirds. This upper portion rises from about four 
to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, 



THE GRAND CANYON 3 

and is set about with mountains ranging upwards 
to over fourteen thousand feet. 

" All winter long, on its mountain-crested rim, snow 
falls, filling the gorges, half burying the forests, and cover- 
ing the crags and peaks with a mantle woven by the winds 
from the waves of the sea, — a mantle of snow. When the 
summer sun comes, this snow melts, and tumbles down 
the mountain-sides in millions of cascades. Ten million 
cascade brooks unite to form ten thousand torrent creeks; 
ten thousand torrent creeks unite to form a hundred rivers 
beset with cataracts ; a hundred roaring rivers unite to form 
the Colorado, which rolls a mad, turbid stream, into the 
Gulf of California." — J. W. Powell. 

Measuring the distance from the head of the 
Green River, in the Wind River Mountains, to the 
mouth of the Colorado River in the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia, the whole length of the stream is about two 
thousand miles. 

" The area of country drained by the Colorado and its 
tributaries is about eight hundred miles in length, and 
varies from three to five hundred in width, containing 
about three hundred thousand square miles, — an area 
larger than all the New England and Middle States, with 
Maryland and Virginia added, or as large as Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri." — J. W. Powell. 

It will readily be seen that these waters, dashing 
down to the sea, laden with rock debris, possess a 
power of corrasion far in excess of any ordinary 
river, and, as a result, each of these upper and side 
streams, as well as the Colorado itself, cuts deeper, 
and deeper, and deeper still into the rocks through 
which lie their beds, until their sides are towering 



4 IN AND AROUND 

cliffs of solid rocks. And it is to these deep, narrow 
eorees that the name of canyons has been given. 

" For more than a thousand miles along its 
course, the Colorado has cut for itself such a can- 
yon; but at some few points, where lateral streams 
join it, the canyon is broken, and narrow, transverse 
valleys divide it properly into a series of canyons." 
These are all named from some distinctive feature 
possessed by each, such as Horseshoe Canyon — 
" where the river takes a course directly into the 
mountain, penetrating to its very heart, then wheels 
back upon itself, and runs out into the valley from 
which it started only half a mile below the point at 
which it entered, thus forming an elongated letter 
U, with the apex in the centre of the mountain;" 
Whirlpool Canyon ; Split Mountain Canyon ; Flam- 
ing Gorge ; Canyon of Desolation; Labyrinth Can- 
yon ; Stillwater Canyon ; Cataract Canyon ; Glen 
Canyon, and Marble Canyon ; and last and great- 
est, and most wonderful of all, THE Grand 
Canyon. 

The Grand Canyon begins at the mouth of the 
Colorado Chiquito (the Little Colorado) and ter- 
minates at thg Grand Wash, a distance of two hun- 
dred and seventeen and a half miles; and were it 
not separated from the Marble Canyon above by 
the narrow canyon valley of the Little Colorado, it 
would be sixty-five and a half miles longer, and thus 
become possessed of additional grandeur. 

" The name, the Grand Canyon, has been repeatedly in- 
fringed for purposes of advertisement. The Canyon of the 
Yellowstone has been called 'The Grand Canyon.' A more 



THE GRAND CANYON 5 

flagrant piracy is the naming of the gorge of the Arkansas 
River in Colorado 'The Grand Canyon of Colorado,' and 
many persons who have visited it have been persuaded 
that they have seen the great chasm. These river valleys 
are certainly very pleasing and picturesque, but there is no 
more comparison between them and the mighty chasm of 
the Colorado River than there is between the Alleghanies 
or Trosachs and the Himalayas. 

" Those who have long and carefully studied the Grand 
Canyon of the Colorado do not hesitate for a moment to 
pronounce it by far the most sublime of all earthly spec- 
tacles. If its sublimity consisted only in its dimensions, it 
could be sufficiently set forth in a single sentence. It is 
more than two hundred miles long, from five to twelve 
miles wide, and from five thousand to six thousand feet 
deep. There are in the world valleys which are longer 
and a few which are deeper. There are valleys flanked 
by summits loftier than the palisades of the Kaibab. Still 
the Grant! Canyon is the sublimest thing on earth. It is 
so not alone by virtue of its magnitudes, but by virtue of 
the whole — its tout ensemble. 

" The common notion of a canyon is that of a deep, 
narrow gash in the earth, with nearly vertical walls, like a 
great and neatly cut trench. There are hundreds of 
chasms in the Plateau Country (the country drained by the 
Colorado River) which answer very well to this notion. 
Many of them are sunk to frightful depths and are fifty to a 
hundred miles in length. Some are exceedingly narrow, 
as the canyons of the forks of the Virgen, where the over- 
hanging walls shut out the sky. Some are intricately 
sculptured, and illuminated with brilliant colors; others 
are picturesque by reason of their bold and striking sculp- 
tures. A few of them are most solemn and impressive by 
reason of their profundity and the majesty of their walls. 
But, as a rule, the common canyons are neither grand nor 
even attractive upon first acquaintance. They are curious 
and awaken interest as a new sensation, but they soon 
grow tiresome for want of diversity, and become at last 



6 IN AND AROUND 

mere bores. The impressions they produce are very- 
transient because of their great simpHcity and the hmited 
range of ideas they present. But there are some which 
are highly diversified, presenting many attractive features. 
These seldom grow stale or wearisome, and their presence 
is generally greeted with pleasure. 

" It is perhaps in some respects unfortunate that the 
stupendous pathway of the Colorado River through the 
Kaibabs was ever called a canyon, for the name identifies 
it with the baser conception. But the name presents as 
wide a range of signification as the word ' house.' The 
log-cabin of the rancher, the painted and vine-clad cottage 
of the mechanic, the home of the millionaire, the palaces 
where parliaments assemble, and the grandest temples of 
worship are all ' houses.' Yet the contrast between St. 
Mark's and the rude dwelling of the frontiersman is not 
greater than that between the chasm of the Colorado and 
the trenches in the rocks which answer to the ordinary 
conception of a canyon. And as a great cathedral is an 
immense development of the rudimentary idea involved in 
the four walls and roof of a cabin, so is the chasm an ex- 
pansion of the simple type of drainage channels peculiar 
to the Plateau Country. To the conception of its vast pro- 
portions must be added some notion of its intricate plan, 
the nobility of its architecture, its colossal buttes, its 
wealth of ornamentation, the splendor of its colors, and its 
wonderful atmosphere. All of these attributes combine 
with infinite complexity to produce a whole which at first 
bewilders and at length overpowers." — C. E. DUTTON. 

A canyon indeed it truly is, but entirely different 
from what all visitors expect to see. It is not a 
deep, narrow, gloomy gorge, into which the sun fails 
to shine even at midday. It is, in reality, a series of 
canyons one within and below the other. Picture one 
canyon, a thousand feet deep and ten or twelve miles 
across ; below this, another canyon, but two miles 



THE GRAND CANYON 7 

less in width and a thousand feet deeper than num- 
ber one ; then, still another, two thousand feet deeper 
and four miles narrower, followed by yet another, 
deeper still and more miles narrower, until the inner 

Cherty 
limestone. 
^ Talus. 



Cross-bedded 
sandstone. 

s^^Talus. 

I Red 

I sandstone. 
\^ Talus and interior lateau. 

""-^i^ Steps of red sandstone. 

Marble wall. 
Talus and lower plateau. 



Steps of — subcarboniferous. 

The inner \ / gorge 

through 

which the 

Colorado River 

flows. 

Crude Sketch of Canyon Outline as seen from Paiuti, 
Hopi, OR Havasupai Points. 



Q^oroe of o-ranite is reached, throuo^h which the roar- 
ing river flows, and you will have a better idea than 
ever before. 

With these descriptions in mind the accom- 
panying crude outline sketch of the Canyon, as 



8 IN AND AROUND 

seen from Paiuti, Hopi, or Havasupai Points will 
become perfectly clear. On the " rim " is a stratum 
of cherty limestone about six hundred feet thick. 
At its base the debris that has fallen from the face 
of the cliff forms a sloping talus, which leads to the 
edtre of a stratum of cross-bedded sandstone, also 
about six hundred feet thick. Below this is the fiery 
red sandstone that leads to the upper plateau. Then, 
steps of an earlier deposit of red sandstone descend to 
the marble or red-wall limestone, — as Dutton calls 
it, — at the base of which there are more taluses and 
another plateau sloping towards the subcarbonifer- 
ous rocks, which are superposed upon the archcean 
schists, commonly called granites, of the "inner 
gorge," through the dark depths of which the river 
wends its winding way. 

The Grand Canyon District, which lies in the 
arid region of southern Utah and northern Arizona, 
contains an area which is roughly estimated at from 
thirteen thousand to sixteen thousand square miles, 
or about the size of the State of Maryland. In 
this district there are, in less than five hundred 
miles, five hundred and twenty falls, cataracts, and 
rapids. This district is arbitrarily divided into 
various canyons as before stated. 

" Cataract and Narrow Canyons are wonderful, Glen 
Canyon is beautiful, Marble Canyon is mighty ; but it is 
left for the Grand Canyon, where the river has cut its way 
down through the sandstones, the marbles, and the granites 
of the Kaibab Mountains, to form those beautiful and awe- 
inspiring pictures that are seen from the bottom of the 
black granite gorge, where above us rise great wondrous 
mountains of bright red sandstone, capped with cathedral 



THE GRAND CANYON 9 

domes and spires of white, with pinnacles, and turrets, and 
towers in such intricate form and flaming colors that words 
fail to convey any idea of their beauty and sublimity." — 
Robert Brewster Stanton. 

It is interesting here to quote a few lines on 
the Colorado River from the gallant " Pathfinder," 
John C. Fremont. He says, in " Memoirs of my 
Life": — 

" Three hundred miles of its lower part, as it approaches 
the Gulf of California, is reported to be smooth and tran- 
quil; but its upper part is manifestly broken into many 
falls and rapids. From many descriptions of trappers, it 
is probable that in its foaming course among its lofty 
precipices it presents many scenes of wild grandeur; and 
though offering many temptations, and often discussed, 
no trappers have been found bold enough to undertake a 
voyage which has so certain a prospect of a fatal termina- 
tion. The Indians have strange stories of beautiful valleys 
abounding with beaver, shut up among inaccessible walls 
of rock in the lower course of the river, and to which the 
neighboring Indians, in their occasional wars with the 
Spaniards, and among themselves, drive their herds of 
cattle and flocks of sheep, leaving them to pasture in 
perfect security." 

A singular geographical fact is connected with 
the Grand Canyon which well serves to illustrate 
the folly of some legislative boundary makers. 

" The Grand and Marble Canyons cut the northwestern 
corner of Arizona completely oft" from the rest of the 
Territory. Except by Lee's Ferry, and the long hot road 
which leads to it, or by a far western route, this corner is 
inaccessible from the south. It looks small enough on the 
map, but it is rather larger than the State of Connecticut, 
and, save for a few scattered cattle-shacks, has no human 
habitation." — T. MITCHELL Prudden. 



lo IN AND AROUND 

If papers are to be served upon any person, taxes 
assessed, or jurors summoned from this sliced-off 
portion of Arizona, the sheriff or his deputy must 
ride from Flagstaff to Lee's Ferry, and then out 
over the Buckskin Mountains upon the Kaibab ere he 
can discharge his duty. To assess taxes costs more 
than they amount to. When the legislative bodies 
of Arizona and Utah are composed of intelligent and 
thinking men this senseless man-made boundary- 
line will be abolished, and that of the Almighty — 
the great chasm of the Colorado River — stand in its 
ordained relationship between these two domains. 



THE GRAND CANYON ii 



CHAPTER II 

EXPLORATIONS FROM THE TIME OF THE SPANIARDS 
(1540) TO MAJOR J. W. POWELL (1869) 



I 



N less than fifty years after the landing of 
Columbus on the shores of the Western Hemi- 
sphere, Spanish explorers and missionaries were 
travelling upon the Colorado River, following its 
course a long way from its mouth, reaching it at 
various points, and even visiting it on the east side 
of its junction with the Colorado Chiquito, — the 
Little Colorado, — which, to this day, is one of 
its most inaccessible points. 

These Spanish explorations were largely the 
result of that never to be forgotten first transcon- 
tinental journey, made on foot by Don Alvar Nunez 
Cabeza de Vaca, the unfortunate treasurer of the 
ill-fated expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez to the 
coast of Florida. The stories of what he saw and 
heard aroused the viceroy of New Spain ( Northern 
Mexico ) to send out a preliminary reconnoissance 
party under the direction of a trustworthy Fran- 
ciscan friar, Marcos de Niza. Marcos penetrated 
Arizona and went east as far as the now known 
pueblos of Zuni, in New Mexico. These, he was 
told, were the seven cities of Cibola. On his favor- 
able report being presented to the viceroy, a large 
and imposing expedition, under the command of 



12 IN AND AROUND 

that young, handsome, adventurous, wealthy, and 
favored caballero, Don Vazquez de Coronado, was 
sent forward to explore, subjugate, and possess the 
new lands in the name of God and the Kino^ of 
Spain. After reaching Zuni, an expedition under 
Ensign Tobar was sent to Moki, where he and his 
soldiers learned of a " large river, " on the banks of 
which "there were some people with very large 
bodies. " 

" As Don Pedro de Tobar was not commissioned to go 
farther, he returned from there and gave this information 
to the general, who despatched Don Garcia Lopez de Car- 
denas with about twelve companions to go to see this river. 
He was well received when he reached Tusayan, and was 
entertained by the natives, who gave him guides for his 
journey. They started from here loaded with provisions, 
for they had to go through a desert country before reach- 
ing the inhabited region, which the Indians said was more 
than tw^enty days' journey. After they had gone twenty 
days they came to the banks of the river, which seemed to 
be more than three or four leagues above the stream which 
flowed between them." — Castenada. 

When Coronado started on his land expedition, 
Mendoza sent out a sea expedition, commanded to 
co-operate with it, placing two vessels under the 
direction of Hernando de Alarcon. 

" He was instructed to sail northward, following the 
coast as closely as possible. He was to keep near the 
army, and communicate with it at every opportunity, trans- 
porting the heavy baggage and holding himself ready at 
all times to render any assistance which Coronado might 
desire. Alarcon sailed May 9, 1540, probably from 
Acapulco. 



THE GRAND CANYON 13 

** He followed the shore closely and explored many- 
harbors, but he nowhere succeeded in obtaining any news 
of the army of Coronado." — GEORGE PARKER WiNSHlP. 

At last, reaching the sand-bars and shoals at the 
head of the Gulf of California, and investigation 
revealing that he was at the mouth of a great river, 
he resolved to explore it, and, — 

" taking twenty men in two boats, started upstream on 
Thursday, August 26, 1540, when white men for the first 
time floated on the waters of the Colorado. The Indians 
appeared on the river banks during the following day. 
The silence with which the strangers answered the threat- 
ening shouts of the natives, and the presence of the Indian 
interpreters in the boats, soon overcame the hostile attitude 
of the savages. The European trifles which had been 
brought for gifts and for trading completed the work of 
establishing friendly relations, and the Indians soon became 
so well disposed that they entirely relieved the Spaniards 
of the labor of dragging the boats up the stream. A 
crowd of Indians seized the ropes by which the boats were 
hauled against the current, and from this time on some of 
them were always ready to render this service to their vis- 
itors. In this fashion the Spaniards continued northward, 
receiving abundant supplies of corn from the natives, whose 
habits and customs they had many excellent opportunities 
for observing. Alarcon instructed these people dutifully 
in the worship of the cross, and continually questioned 
them about the places whose names Friar Marcos had 
heard. He met with no success until he had travelled a 
considerable distance up the river, when for the first time 
he found a man with whom his interpreter was able to 
converse." — George Parker Winship. 

Here he learned news of Coronado, but could get 
none of his men to go with a message across the 



14 IN AND AROUND 

country to Cibola, where he was assured his land 
coadjutor would be found. Much to his regret 
Alarcon was compelled to return to his vessels at 
the mouth of the river, but it was only to start up 
as^ain with " three boats filled with wares of ex- 
change, with corne and other seedes, hennes and 
cockes of Castille." 

" Starting September 14, he found the hidians as friendly 
as before, and ascended tlie river, as he judged, about 85 
leagues, which may have taken him to the point where the 
canyons begin. A cross was erected to inform Coronado, 
in case an expedition from Cibola should reach this part 
of the river, that he had tried to fulfil his duty, but nothing 
more was accomplished." — George Parker VVinship. 

In September of the same year (1540) Melchior 
Diaz started from tlie valley of Corazones, or Hearts 
(where Coronado had left him in charge of seventy 
or eighty men ), with twenty-five men to endeavor to 
reach the seacoast and find Alarcon. 

" Hurrying across the desert region, he travelled slowly 
up the coast until he reached the mouth of a river which 
was large enough for vessels to enter. The country was 
cold, and the Spaniards observed that when the natives 
hereabouts wished to keep warm, they took a burning 
stick and held it to their abdomens and shoulders. This 
curious habit led the Spaniards to name the river Fire- 
brand — Rio del Tizon. Near the mouth of the river was 
a tree on which was written, ' A letter is at the foot of 
this.' Diaz dug down and found a jar wrapped so care- 
fully that it was not even moist. The enclosed papers stated 
that ' Francisco de Alarcon reached this place in the year 
'40 with three ships, having been sent in search of Fran- 
cisco Vazquez Coronado by the viceroy, D. Antonio de 
Mendoza ; and after crossing the bar at the mouth of the 



THE GRAND CANYON 15 

river and waiting many days without obtaining any news, 
he was obHged to depart, because the ships were being 
eaten by worms,' the terrible Teredo navalis. 

" Diaz determined to cross the river, hoping that the 
country might become more attractive. The passage was 
accomphshed, with considerable danger, by means of cer- 
tain large wicker baskets, which the natives coated with a 
sort of bitumen, so that the water could not leak through. 
Five or six Indians caught hold of each of these and swam 
across, guiding it and transporting the Spaniards with 
their baggage, and being supported in turn by the raft. 
Diaz marched inland for four days, but not finding any 
people in the country, which became steadily more barren, 
he decided to return to Corazones Valley. The party 
made its way back to the country of the giants without 
accident, and then one night, while Diaz was watching the 
camp, a small dog began to bark and chase the flock of 
sheep which the men had taken with them for food. Un- 
able to call the dog off, Diaz started after him on horse- 
back and threw his lance while on the gallop. The weapon 
stuck up in the ground, and before Diaz could stop or turn 
his horse, which was running loose, the socket pierced his 
groin. The soldiers could do little to relieve his suffer- 
ings, and he died before they reached the settlement, 
where they arrived January 18, 1541." — George Parker 
VVlNSHIP. 

In 1746 Padre Consag explored the Gulf of Cal- 
ifornia as far as the mouth of the Colorado River, 
and in 1776 Sylvestre Escalante, a Spanish priest, 
crossed the river in Glen Canyon, at a place 
still known as El Vado de los Padres, — the cross- 
ing of the fathers. About the same time, Padre 
Francisco Garces travelled extensively in the region 
of the canyon and visited the Havasupais in Cat- 
aract Canyon. 



i6 



IN AND AROUND 



Early in this century Lieutenant Hardy of the 
British Navy made a Hmited survey of the lower 
waters of the Colorado, and in 1846-47 the United 
States " Army of the West " crossed on their way 
to California. 

In 1853 the Sitgreaves expedition — which left 
its sien in the name Mount Sito^reaves, a moun- 




The Colorado River and the Needles, California. 



tain near the San Francisco range — was organ- 
ized for the purpose of determining whether the 
Zuni River flowed into the Colorado. This party, 
after travelling below^ the Falls of the Little Col- 
orado, in its westward journeyings, struck the Colo- 
rado River about a hundred and fifty miles above 
Yuma. 

Three years later, Lieutenant Whipple's survey 



THE GRAND CANYON 17 

for a practical railroad route to the Pacific Coast 
along the thirty-fifth parallel led him to the Col- 
orado River, and an exploration was made of the 
Black Canyon (below the Grand) and of the lower 
portion of the Grand Canyon as high up as 
Diamond Creek. 

It is possible there may have been expeditions 
through the Canyon made by adventurous white 
explorers even before the time of Powell, but this 
is only conjecture, based upon the fact that in the 
lower part of Cataract Canyon Mr. Stanton dis- 
covered the name of " I Julien, 1836," deeply carved 
in the face of the rock. Mr. F. A. Nims, the pho- 
tographer of the Stanton expedition, says of this 
inscription, which was six feet above what was 
then the bed of the river: — 

" As it could only have been done from the water by 
some one either in a boat or on a raft, the only solution we 
could arrive at was that it was done by one of a party of 
Canadian voyageurs, which is reported to have attempted 
to explore this part of the country in 1836 — thirty-three 
years before Major Powell and his party made their mem- 
orable trip, and fifty-three years before we followed. What 
became of them I have been unable to ascertain. No 
written account has ever been published of their journey." 

Dr. Parry, the distinguished botanist of the Mex- 
ican Boundary Commission, was once led into writ- 
ing an account of a trip supposedly made through 
the Canyon by James White, a Wisconsin miner. 
This man was afterwards employed by Major 
Powell, and it was then found that the published 
account of his trip was largely erroneous. He had 
some adventures in the Canyon, but they were small 



I 8 IN AND AROUND 

and insignificant compared with the stories circu- 
lated about them. 

In 1855, a party of several men, led by one Ash- 
ley, made an attempt to come through the can- 
yons, and they were soon wrecked, and all but 
Ashley and one companion drowned. Powell thus 
refers to Ashley in his " Explorations " : — 

" On a high rock by which the trail passes we find 
the inscription: 'Ashley 18-5.' The third figure is 
obscure — some of the party reading it 1835, some 1855. 
■ "James Baker, an old-time mountaineer, once told me 
about a party of men starting down the river, and Ashley 
was named as one. The story runs that the boat was 
swamped, and some of the party drowned in one of the 
canyons below. The word ' Ashley ' is a warning to us, 
and we resolve on great caution. 

" Ashley Falls is the name we give to the cataract we 
have just passed. Eight days later we discover an iron 
bake oven, several tin plates, a part of a boat, and many 
other fragments, which denote the spot where Ashley's 
party came to disaster and, possibly, death. " 

In 1857, Lieutenant Ives was placed in command 
of an expedition, organized by the War Depart- 
ment, for the purpose of discovering whether sup- 
plies for the military posts of New Mexico and 
Utah could be transported by water up the Colo- 
rado River. He was instructed to explore the 
river from its mouth as far as navigation was pos- 
sible. In a steamboat (which was specially con- 
structed in Philadelphia, shipped in sections via the 
Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco and thence 
around Cape St. Lucas into the Gulf of California to 
the mouth of the river, and there put together), he 



THE GRx\ND CANYON 19 

ascended to the head of Black Canyon, a few miles 
below the confluence of the Virgen River in Nevada. 

At this point he decided that navigation could 
be pursued no farther, so, sending the vessel back 
to Fort Yuma, he crossed the country to the north- 
east, reaching the Colorado River again at Diamond 
Creek. Continuing his journey eastward he en- 
tered Cataract Canyon (briefly described in later 
pages of this book), visited the Havasupai Indians, 
then made a wide southward detour around the 
San Francisco Peaks, crossed the Little Colorado, 
and journeyed thence northeast to the pueblos of 
the Hopis. After a short stay there he went east- 
ward to Fort Defiance, and finally returned to 
eastern civilization. 

The report of Lieutenant Ives is a most fascina- 
ting large quarto volume, illustrated by marvellous 
pictures of the Grand Canyon and other scenes from 
the pencils of Mollhausen and Eggloffstein. Those 
of the latter artist are as artistic and attractive as 
they are untrue and belittling. Dutton, speaking 
of these sketches of the Kaibab region in his mon- 
ograph on the Grand Canyon, says : " Never was 
a great subject more artistically misrepresented or 
more charmingly belittled." Yet the report itself is 
remarkably interesting, and, being the first volume 
published on the wonders of the Grand Canyon, — 
though only a small portion of it, — it is invaluable 
both to the student and to those who would know 
in detail the difficulties that have beset the path- 
way of the pioneers who first trod the banks of 
the encanyoned river. 



20 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER III 

EXPLORATIONS BY MAJOR J. W. POWELL (186972) 

UP to this time it will be seen that no adequate 
survey of the Colorado River or its canyons 
had been made. Exploring parties or individuals 
had touched it here and there, but there had been 
no thorough and satisfactory exploration. It was 
left to the untiring energy, persistent zeal, and 
scientific instincts of Major J. W. Powell to accom- 
plish the impossible ; for Indians, miners, pros- 
pectors, cowboys, Spanish explorers, and United 
States government of^cers were a unit in saying 
that it was a practical impossibility to ride down 
the Colorado River from its source to its mouth. 

Exaggerated stories of Ives' report reached the 
ears of the miners, prospectors, and hunters who 
wandered into the country, and these, in time, 
started other stories equally exciting, which aroused 
much interest and curiosity, although it is doubtful 
whether any of them had much, if any, foundation 
in fact. 

" Tales were told of parties entering the gorge in boats, 
and being carried down with fearful velocity into whirl- 
pools, where all were overwhelmed in the abyss of waters; 
others, of underground passages for the great river, into 
which boats had passed never to be seen again. It was 



THE GRAND CANYON 



21 



currently believed that the river was lost under the rocks 
for several hundred miles. There were other accounts of 
great falls, whose roaring music could be heard on the dis- 
tant mountain summits. There were many stories current 
of parties wandering on the brink of the canyon, vainly 
endeavoring to reach the waters below, and perishing with 
thirst at last in sight of the river which was roaring its 
mockery into dying ears. 
The Indians, too, have 
woven the mysteries of 
the canyons into the 
myths of their religion. 
Long ago, there was a 
great and wise chief, who 
mourned the death of 
his wife, and would not 
be comforted until Ta- 
vwoats, one of the Indian 
gods, came to him, and 
told him she was in a 
happier land, and offered 
to take him there, that he 
might see for himself, 
if, upon his return, he 
would cease to mourn. 
The great chief pro- 
mised. Then Ta-vwoats made a trail through the moun- 
tains that intervene between that beautiful land, the balmy 
region in the Great West, and this, the desert home of the 
poor Nu-ma. 

" This trail was the Canyon Gorge of the Colorado. 
Through it he led him ; and when they had returned, the 
deity exacted from the chief a promise that he would tell 
no one of the joys of that land, lest, through discontent 
with the circumstances of this world, they should desire to 
go to heaven. Then he rolled a river into the gorge, a 
mad, raging stream, that should engulf any that might 
attempt to enter thereby." — J. W. POWELL. 




Major Powell's Boat ix Glen 
Canyon. 



22 IN AND AROUND 

The wondrous daring of Powell's expedition can 
well be understood when it is known that to this 
day it is a common thing for those whose work 
takes them to the " rim " to declare unhesitatingly 
that Powell never went through the whole of the 
Canyon. They say Stanton may have done so, but 
that was only because he had the information that 
Powell gleaned from the banks of the Canyon to aid 
him. The Indians also declare that it is a physical 
impossibility, and, as will be related later, it was 
their disbelief in the statements of Powell's men 
(those who left the expedition before its close) that 
led to the murder of those three unfortunates. 

To Powell, then, the honor and credit belong, 
and to him will freely be accorded the claim I have 
made in my dedication when it is known what in- 
credible difficulties his daring, intrepidity, and cour- 
age, backed by the same qualities in his faithful 
corps of assistants, overcame. 

In 1867 he began explorations of the canyons and 
gorges of the Upper Colorado, and as the result of 
these early efforts, a party was organized in 1869 
for the complete exploration of the Colorado River 
from its source to its mouth. 

On the 24th of May, 1869, the party left Green 
River City, the prow of the boats turned to flow 
with the swift current into the unknown dangers 
and wonders ahead. Three of the boats were of oak, 
and one of pine, — each divided into compartments, 
some of which were water-tight to make the boats 
buoyant. They were loaded with rations deemed 
sufficient to last ten months, — clothing, ammunition, 
tools, and all necessary scientific instruments. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



23 



Major Powell's report is eloquent and vivid, and 
the daily diary of this band of brave explorers is as 
fascinating and thrilling as any work of imagination 
ever written. 

As they started: — 

"Away to the south, 
the Uinta Mountains 
stretch in a long line; 
high peaks thrust into 
the sky, and snow-fields 
glittering like lakes of 
molten silver ; and pine 
forests in sombre green ; 
and rosy clouds playing 
around the borders of 
huge, black masses ; and 
heights and clouds, and 
mountains and snow- 
fields, and forests and 
rock-lands are blended 
into one grand view." — 
J. W. Powell. 




Dellenbaugh Butte, Green 
River. 



In five days sixty-two miles are run, and Flaming 
Gorge reached, — then Horseshoe Canyon and 
Beehive Point. An exciting: ride follows, throuQ-h 
a narrow gorge, where the water is rolled by the 
side-rocks into the centre in great waves, through 
which the boats go leaping and bounding as if gifted 
with life. Then the roar of a fall near by leads to 
the unloading of the boats to make a " portage " 
over the dangerous place. This is the Ashley Falls 
before referred to. 

" Seventy and one-third miles from Flaming Gorge the 
gate of the Canyon of Lodore is reached, in which a sue- 



24 IN AND AROUND 

cession of rapids are found. This is our method of pro- 
cedure at such places. The Emma Dean goes in advance ; 
the other boats follow, in obedience to signals. When we 
approach a rapid, or what, on other rivers, H'ould often be 
called a fall, I stand on deck to examine it, while the oars- 
men back-water, and we drift on as slowly as possible. If 
I can see a clear chute between the rocks, away we go ; 
but if the channel is beset entirely across, we signal the 
other boats, pull to land, and I walk along the shore for 
closer examination. If this reveals no clear channel, hard 
work begins. We drop the boats to the very head of the 
dangerous place, and let them over by hnes, or make a 
portage, frequently carrying both boats and cargoes over 
the rocks, or perhaps, only the cargoes, if it is safe to let 
the boats down. The waves caused by such falls in a river 
differ much from the waves of the sea. The water of an 
ocean wave merely rises and falls ; the form only passes 
on, and form chases form unceasingly. A body floating 
on such waves merely rises and sinks, — does not progress 
unless impelled by wind or some other power. But here, 
the water of the wave passes on, while the form remains. 
The waters plunge down ten or twenty feet, to the foot of 
the fall ; spring up again in a great wave ; then down and 
up, in a series of billows, that gradually disappear in the 
more quiet waters below ; but these waves are always there, 
and you can stand above and count them. 

" A boat riding such, leaps and plunges along with great 
velocity. Now, the difficulty in riding over these falls, 
when the rocks are out of the way, is in the first wave at 
the foot. This will sometimes gather for a moment, heap- 
ing up higher and higher, imtil it breaks back. If the boat 
strikes it the instant after it breaks, she cuts through, and 
the mad breaker dashes its spray over the boat, and would 
wash us overboard did we not cling tight. If the boat, in 
going over the falls, chances to get caught in some side 
current, and is turned from its course, so as to strike the 
wave " broad-side on," and the wave breaks at the same 



THE GRAND CANYON 25 

instant, the boat is capsized. Still, \vc must cling to her, 
for, the water-tight compartments acting as buoys, she can- 
not sink; and so we go, dragged through the waves, until 
still waters are reached. We then right the boat, and climb 
aboard." — J. W. POWELL. 

The next day (June 9) a very exciting run is 
made, and the boat, the '' No Name," makes a 
" bolt " and goes over two falls, — the first about ten 
or twelve feet, the next some forty or fifty feet — 

" in a channel filled with dangerous rocks that break 
the waves into whirlpools and beat them into foam. Look 
at them ! — the boat strikes a rock, rebounds from the 
shock, careens, and fills the open compartment with water. 
Two of the men lose their oars ; she swings around, and 
is carried down at a rapid rate, broadside on, for a few 
yards, and strikes amidships on another rock with great 
force, is broken quite in two, and the men are thrown into 
the river; the larger part of the boat floating buoyantly, 
they soon seize it, and down the river they drift, past the 
rocks for a few hundred yards to a second rapid, filled 
with huge boulders, where the boat strikes again, and is 
dashed to pieces, and the men and fragments are soon 
carried beyond my sight. Running along, I turn a 
bend, and see a man's head above the water, washed 
about in a whirlpool below a great rock. It is Frank 
Goodman, clinging to it with a grip upon which life 
depends. Coming opposite, I see Rowland trying to go 
to his aid from an island on which he has been washed. 
Soon, he comes near enough to reach Frank with a pole, 
which he extends toward him. The latter lets go the rock, 
grasps the pole, and is pulled ashore. Seneca Rowland is 
washed farther down the island, and is caught by some 
rocks, and, though somewhat bruised, manages to get ashore 
in safety. This seems a long time, as I tell it, but it is 
quickly done. 



26 



IN AND AROUND 



"And now the three men are on the island, with a swift, 
dangerous river on either side, and a fall below." — 
Powell. 

After incredible efforts, the men are rescued, and 
in a day or two the party resumes its journey, but 
not until it has found a bake-oven, several tin 




BoNiTO Bexd. 



plates, a part of a boat, and many otlier fragments 
which denote that this is the place where Ashley's 
party was wrecked. So the name " Disaster Falls " 
is given to this scene of so much peril and loss. 

More falls, rocks, and rapids, and a beautiful 
park is reached, and then a place where — 

'* just before us, the canyon divides, a little stream com- 
ing down on the right, and another on the left, and we 
can look away up either of these canyons, through an 
ascending vista, to cliffs and crags and towers, a mile back, 
and two thousand feet overhead. To the right, a dozen 



THE GRAND CANYON 27 

gleaming cascades are seen. Pines and firs stand on the 
rocks, and aspens overhang the brooks. The rocks below 
are red and brown, set in deep shadows, but above, they 
are buff and vermilion, and stand in the sunshine. The 
light above, made more brilliant by the bright-tinted rocks, 
and the shadows below more gloomy by the sombre hues 
of the brown walls, increase the apparent depths of the 
canyons, and it seems a long way up to the world of 
sunshine and open sky, and a long way down to the 
bottom of the canyon glooms." — PoWELL. 

Twenty and three-quarters miles bring the 
travellers to Echo Park, which ends the Canyon of 
Lodore, and from this point to the mouth of the 
Uinta River through Whirlpool Canyon, Island 
Park, and Split Mountain Canyon, they add ninety- 
eight and one-fourth miles more to the distance. To 
the junction of the Grand and Green ( which 
together form the Colorado ), through the Canyon 
of Desolation, Gray Canyon, Gunnison's Valley, 
Labyrinth Canyon, and Stillwater Canyon, it is two 
hundred and eighty-six and one-fourth miles, all of 
which distance is safely travelled. 

And now they have reached the real Colorado 
River. Here much discussion takes place between 
the members of the party as to the probabilities of 
successfully navigating the river below. They 
arrive at the conclusion — 

" that there are great descents yet to be made, but, if 
they are distributed in rapids and short falls, as they 
have been hitherto, we shall be able to overcome them. 
But maybe we shall come to a fall in these canyons 
which we cannot pass, where the walls rise from the water's 
edge, so that we cannot land, and where the water is so 



28 IN AND AROUND 

swift that we cannot return. Such places have been found 
except that the falls were not so great but that we could 
run them in safety. How will it be in the future? So the 
men speculate over the serious probabilities in a jesting 
mood, and I hear Sumner remark, ' My idea is, we had 
better go slow, and learn to paddle.' " — Powell, 

The very next day difficulties are so great that 
the distance made is only three-quarters of a mile, 
and the fall in the river in that short distance is 
seventy-five feet. 

Cataract and Glen Canyons are passed through, 
and now Marble Canyon is reached. 

" The scenery is on a grand scale. The walls of the 
Canyon, twenty-five hundred feet high, are of marble, of 
many beautiful colors, and often polished by the waves, 
or far up the sides, where showers have washed the sands 
over the cliffs. 

" At one place I have a walk, for more than a mile, on a 
marble pavement, all polished and fretted with strange 
devices, and embossed in a thousand fi^ntastic patterns. 
Through a cleft in the wall the sun shines on this pavement, 
which gleams in iridescent beauty. 

" I pass up the cleft. It is very narrow, with a succes- 
sion of pools standing at higher levels as I go back. The 
water in these pools is clear and cool, coming down from 
springs. Then I return to the pavement, which is but a , 
terrace or bench, over which the river runs at its flood, 
but left bare at present. Along the pavement, in many 
places, are basins of clear water, in strange contrast to 
the red mud of the river. At length I come to the end of 
this marble terrace, and take again to the boat. 

" Riding down a short distance, a beautiful view is pre- 
sented. The river runs sharply to the east, and seems 
enclosed by a wall, set with a million brilliant gems. 
What can it mean? Every eye is engaged, every one 



THE GRAND CANYON 29 

wonders. On coming nearer, we find fountains bursting 
from the rock, high overhead, and the spray in the sun- 
shine forms the gems which bedeck the wall. The rocks 
below the fountain are covered with mosses, and ferns, 
and many beautiful flowering plants. We name it Vasey's 
Paradise, in honor of the botanist who travelled with us 
last year. 

" It rains again this afternoon. Scarcely do the first 
drops fall, when little rills run down the walls. As the 
storm comes on, the little rills increase in size, until great 
streams are formed. Although the walls of the canyon 
are chiefly limestone, the adjacent country is of red sand- 
stone ; and now the waters, loaded with these sands, come 
down in rivers of bright red mud, leaping over the walls 
in innumerable cascades. It is plain now how these walls 
are polished in many places." — Powell. 

The end of Marble Canyon is at the mouth of 
the Colorado Chiquito. The canyon through which 
this muddy, salt stream flows is on a scale quite as 
grand, although not so extensive, as that of the 
Colorado itself. Standing on Paiuti Point (Grand 
View) near the Grand View Trail, the cliffs above 
the mouth of the Little Colorado are distinctly to be 
seen; but to rightly enjoy it, one should ride around 
the rim, some thirty-five miles, and see the junction 
of the two rivers. 

The walls of Marble Canyon at its head are two 
hundred feet high, but as they approach the Grand 
Canyon they gradually increase in depth until they 
are thirty-five hundred feet high. 

And now the Grand Canyon itself is reached, and 
" we are ready to start on our way down the great 
unknown." And those who read this portion of 
Major Powell's Journal, published some years ago 



30 IN AND AROUND 

in " Scribner's," will remember how the pulses quick- 
ened, and the heart quivered often ere the end of 
his thrilling experiences was reached. 

" An unknown river we have yet to explore. What falls 
there are, we know not ; what rocks beset the channel, 
we know not. What walls rise over the river, we know 
not. The water is swift, the walls rise from the very- 
edge of the river. They are composed of tiers of irreg- 
ular shelves below, and above these, steep slopes to 
the foot of the marble cliffs. Soon after entering, the 
river runs across a dike. A dike is a fissure in the rocks, 
open to depths below, which has been filled with eruptive 
matter, and this, on cooling, was harder than the rocks 
through which the crevice was made, and, when these were 
washed away, the harder volcanic matter remained as a 
wall, and the river has cut a gateway through it several 
hundred feet high, and as many wide. 

" The very next day, the softer series of rocks are left 
behind, — newer and more dangerous experiences clearly 
are before us, for we now enter the granite. Here the canyon 
is narrow and the water swifter. The walls are set on 
either side, with pinnacles and crags ; and sharp, angular 
buttresses, bristling with wind- and wave-polished spires, 
extend far out into the river. The walls, now, are a mile 
in height, — a vertical distance difficult indeed to appreci- 
ate. Stand in any street with which you are familiar, lined 
with stores on either side for a full mile, and then imagine 
this immense mass of buildings extending this mile up- 
wards, — and you can then begin to comprehend the gran- 
deur of these rock walls." — PoWELL. 

The explorers gaze and take their fill and then 
journey on, and at length reach a part of the river 
wdiich we can well imagine is the one just to the 
left of the foot of the Old Trail, where we have 
stood and gazed on the wildly dashing, hoarsely 



THE GRAND CANYON 31 

raging, and ever-foaming waters as they madly gal- 
loped along to their rest in the Gulf of California. 

"The river is very deep, the canyon very narrow, and 
still obstructed, so that there is no steady flow of the 
stream ; but the waters wheel, and roll, and boil, and we 
are scarcely able to determine where we can go. Now, 
the boat is carried to the right, perhaps close to the wall ; 
again, she is shot into the stream, and perhaps is dragged 
over to the other side, where, caught in a whirlpool, she 
spins about. We can neither land nor run as we please. 
The boats are entirely unmanageable ; no order in their 
running can be preserved ; now one, now another is ahead, 
each crew laboring for its own preservation. In such a place 
we come to another rapid. Two of the boats run it perforce. 
One succeeds in landing, but there is no foothold by which 
to make a portage, and she is pushed out again into the 
stream. The next minute a great, reflex wave fills the 
open compartment ; she is water-logged, and drifts unman- 
ageable. Breaker after breaker rolls over her, and one 
capsizes her. The men are thrown out ; but they cling to 
the boat, and she drifts down some distance, alongside of 
us, and we are able to catch her. She is soon bailed out, 
and the men are aboard once more. 

" One more day, and we come to a beautifully clear 
stream which we name Bright Angel Creek. This is 
nearly opposite the Bright Angel Trail." — PowELL. 

And now, provisions begin to " give out ; " rain 
falls in torrents ; the stream grows more and more 
rapid, dangerous, and threatening; not one of the 
party has a complete suit of clothes, and there is 
not a blanket each for them. Affairs begin to look 
desperate. All their bacon is so badly injured 
that it has to be thrown away, their fiour is musty, 
and there is only enough to last for ten days, with 



32 



IN AND AROUND 



no baking-powder to raise it. This flour, a few 
dried apples, and plenty of coffee, are all they have 
left. And yet, in spite of these discouragements, 
and the unknown portion of the river full of dan- 
gers and perils before them, these brave men go on ; 
and although the next day they only make the 
small distance of two miles, the day following brings 
them brightness in the fact that after rushing madly 
down through a long, winding chute where they 
make ten miles in less than an hour, they emerge 
from the Liranite formation, and althouo^h the walls 
are still narrow and the river swift, they know that 
while this condition lasts they can meet with no 
more great falls or rapids. 

So they go gleefully on, and three or four days 
afterwards come to monuments of lava standing in 
the river. Most of them are low rocks, but some 
are shafts more than three hundred feet high. 

Two days later three of the party tell Major 
Powell they have decided to go no farther. Ex- 
postulation is found to be useless, and the next 
day, after sharing their provisions, the party divides, 
Howland, his brother, and William Dunn climbing 
out of the Canyon, hoping to reach the Mormon 
settlements in Utah, and thus return to civilization, 
the others determined to complete their journey or 
perish in the attempt. And in order to remove 
misapprehension as far as possible as to the fate 
of these men, I will here quote Major Powell's 
discovery of the cause of their death. It was in 
the fall of the following year that he (Powell) 
visited the camp of the Shi-vwits Indians, near to 
the place where the three men left the river. 



THE GRAND CANYON 33 

" I then learned that they had come to the Indian village 
almost starved and exhausted with fatigue. They were 
supplied with food, and put on their way to the settle- 
ments. Shortly after they had left, an Indian from the 
east side of the Colorado arrived at the village, and told 
them ithe Shi-vwits) about a number of miners having 
killed a squaw in a drunken brawl, and no doubt these 
were the men. No person had ever come down the can- 
yon ; that was impossible ; they were trying to hide their 
guilt. In this way he worked them into a great rage. 
They followed, surrounded the three unfortunate men 
in ambush, and filled them full of arrows." — POWELL. 

Three of their men gone, the party hurries on, 
leaving behind one of the remaining boats, — with 
barometers, fossils, minerals, and what ammunition 
they think they can spare. More difficulties and 
dangers are yet to be faced, and that afternoon 
they have adventures which would entirely daunt 
the hearts of less brave and determined men. 
Falls are encountered, over which they go dash- 
ing madly, it seems as if to sure and certain 
death. The first boat goes over with only one 
man — Bradley — in it. Breathlessly the others 
look on, and see the boat emerge on the crest of 
a wave, whirl around behind some great rocks, 
and then they lose sight of it in the mad, white 
foam below. They stand frozen with fear, for 
neither boat nor man is to be seen ; but by and 
by he comes up again below, in a whirlpool, and 
in order that they may chance to help him they 
all jump into their boat, hurry down — over the 
falls — are capsized — and were it not for the efforts 
made by the man they go themselves to save, they, 
probably, some of them, would lose their lives. 

3 



34 IN AND AROUND 

At noon of the following clay these brave-hearted 
explorers emerge from the Grand Canyon. Al- 
though they have still many miles to run, they are 
in waters which have been navigated some years 
previously by a party of Mormons. And what joy 
they feel at the cessation of their dangerous labors ! 

"The relief from danger and the joy of success are 
great. When he who has been chained by wounds to a 
hospital cot, until his canvas tent seems like a dungeon 
cell, until the groans of those who lie about, tortured with 
probe and knife, are piled up, a weight of horror on his 
ears that he cannot throw off, cannot forget, and until the 
stench of festering wounds and anaesthetic drugs has filled 
the air with its loathsome burden, — when such an one at 
last goes out into the open field, what a world he sees ! 
How beautiful the sky ! how bright the sunshine ! what 
' floods of delicious music ' pour from the throats of 
birds ! how sweet the fragrance of earth, and tree, and 
blossom ! The first hour of convalescent freedom seems 
rich recompense for all pain, gloom, terror. 

" Something like this are the feelings we experience to- 
night. Ever before us has been an unknown danger, 
heavier than immediate peril. Every waking hour passed 
in the Grand Canyon has been one of toil. We have 
watched with deep solicitude the steady disappearance of 
our scant supply of rations, and from time to time have 
seen the river snatch a portion of the little left, while w^e 
were a-hungered. And danger and toil were endured in 
those gloomy depths, where ofttimes the clouds hid the 
sky by day, and but a narrow zone of stars could be seen 
at night. Only during the few hours of deep sleep, conse- 
quent on hard labor, has the roar of the waters been hushed. 
Now the danger is over ; now the toil has ceased ; now 
the gloom has disappeared ; now the firmament is bounded 
only by the horizon ; and what a vast expanse of constel- 
lations can be seen ! 



THE GRAND CANYON 



35 



"The river rolls by us in silent majesty; the quiet of the 
camp is sweet ; our joy is almost ecstasy. We sit till long 
after midnight, talking of the Grand Canyon, talking of 
home, but chiefly talking of the three men who left us. 
Are they wandering in those depths, unable to find a way 
out? are they searching over the desert lands above for 
water? or are they nearing the settlements?" — Powell. 

Two or three clays later they land, and on the 
first of September four of the men, with new sup- 
plies, go on down the Colorado to Fort Mohave, 
and Major Powell overland to Salt Lake City. 

Further explorations have since been made under 
the direction of the United States Geolos:ical Sur- 
vey while Major Powell was its director, and as a 
result Captain Clarence E. Dutton has published 
one of the most interesting monographs ever penned 
by a specialist. Its title is " The Tertiary History 
of the Grand Canyon District," and it is accom- 
panied with a large atlas containing admirable pic- 
tures, etc., of the Canyon region, — from sketches 
made by Mr. W. H. Holmes, the accomplished field 
geologist, artist, archaeologist, and writer, now in 
charge of the Anthropological Department of the 
United States National Museum. No praises be- 
stowed upon these gentlemen, for the fidelity with 
which they have described this marvellous rock 
region, can ever be adequate return for the pleasure 
they have afforded those who have enjoyed the fruit 
of their labors. 



36 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER IV 

LATER EXPLORATIONS 

ON the 25th of May, 1889, Mr. Frank M. Brown, 
of Denver, Colorado, with Mr. Robert Brew- 
ster Stanton as chief engineer, and a party of thir- 
teen men, started from a point in Utah, called by 
the Post OfBce Department Blake, and known in 
railroad circles as Green River. 

Mr. Brown " had conceived the idea of building a 
railroad through the canyons of the Colorado River, 
from some point in Colorado, by a water grade, 
down the Grand and Colorado Rivers to some 
point in Southern California, where the road could 
be feasibly taken across to the coast " of the Pacific. 

The early portions of the adventures of this party 
were very similar to those experienced by the Powell 
party. Up to the second day of June everything 
went along pleasantly, but from that time on there 
was disaster of some kind every day. 

One of the peculiar and dangerous features of the 
river was an up-shooting wave which they desig- 
nated a " fountain." 

" Where the riv^er is broad, deep, and swift, the bottom 
seems to be covered with potholes in the sandstone, and 
to have great heaps of constantly changing quicksand 
mounds. This causes numberless cross-currents under- 



THE GRAND CANYON 37 

neath the surface, and at times these seem to combine, 
resulting in an enormous up-shooting wave, which breaks 
through the surface of the water with a swish and roar that 
are appaUing, and tosses anything it may strike. The noise 
these ' fountains ' make is something between the boom 
of a cannon and the rush of an enormous sky-rocket, and 
they can be heard for a mile. They do not rise twice in 
the same place, but switch about so that it is impossible to 
avoid them." — E. Reynolds. 

Over and over again the boats were turned up- 
side down by these " fountains," and if the men were 
not " ducked " more than once a day, they considered 
themselves fairly fortunate. 

The party journeyed on, had their upsets, lost 
their provisions, had one of their boats smashed, but 
kept up brave hearts, and went manfully forward 
until July loth. On the previous evening Mn 
Brown must have had a presentiment of disaster, 
for Mr. Stanton says he " seemed lonely and 
troubled, and asked me to sit by his bed and talk. 
We sat there late, smoking, and talking of our 
homes and our journey on the morrow." 

That morrow was a sad one for the expedition. 
Brown and a man named McDonald were ahead in 
a boat, and they — 

" undertook to run the first rapid, by the side of which 
was a great whirlpool. They were going safely along a 
neutral strip of water between the two, when an enormous 
up-shooting wave struck the boat in the middle, throwing 
it into the air, and pitching Brown into the whirlpool, and 
McDonald into the rapid. Both were powerful swimmers. 
McDonald struck out. calling to Brown, * Come on.' 
Brown replied, ' All right,' and faced down the river. Mc- 
Donald had now all he could do to care for himself. 



38 



IN AND AROUND 



Three times he was thrown under by the terrific tossings 
of the mad waters, but he managed to reach a rock about 
six hundred yards below the scene of the mishap. Drag- 
ging himself out, he was horrified to see Brown still in the 
whirlpool. Frantically he gestured to the following boat. 
It recognized his signals, and dashed for the whirlpool, but 
too late. Brown had disappeared a few seconds before it 
reached him, and that river never gives up its dead." — 
E. Reynolds. 

Now let Stanton take up the narrative. 

" In this world we are left but little time to mourn. We 
had work to do, and I determined if possible to complete 
the whole of that work. With this intention we started 
out next morning. Thursda3^ Friday, and Saturday we 
pushed on with our usual work, shooting through or por- 
taging round twenty-four bad rapids, getting deeper and 
deeper between the marble walls. After a quiet rest on 
Sunday, Monday morning found us at the head of two 
very rough and rocky rapids. We portaged both of them. 
While the photographer and myself took our notes and 
pictures, the boats were to go on through the lower end 
of the second rapid to a sandbar, a half-mile below. It 
was easy walking for us along the bank. The first boat 
got down with difficulty, as the current beat hard against 
the left cliff. My boat was the next to start. I pushed it 
out from shore myself with a cheering word to the men, 
Hansbrough and Richards. It was the last the}- ever 
heard. The current drove them against the cliff, under an 
overhanging shelf. In trying to push away from the cliff 
the boat was upset. Hansbrough was never seen to rise. 
Richards, a powerful man, swam some distance down 
stream. The first boat started out to the rescue, but he 
sank before it reached him. 

" Two more faithful and good men gone! Astonished 
and crushed by our sad loss, our force too small to 
portage our boats, and our boats entirely unfit for such 



THE GRAND CANYON 39 

work, I decided to abandon the trip, with then and there a 
determination, as soon as a new outfit could be secured, to 
return and complete our journey to the Gulf." — R. B. 
Stanton. 

This resolution was faithfully carried out. Mr. 
Stanton fitted out a second party, and on the loth 
of December, 1889, after having hauled their boats 
by wagon one hundred and twenty miles from Green 
River Station to the mouth of Crescent Creek, four 
miles above Dandy Crossing, embarked on the 
great river. On the ist of March, 1890, the mouth 
of Diamond Creek was reached ; they " emerged 
at the lower end of Grand Canyon March 17th, 
reached the end of the survey at tide-water April 
26th, and, returning to Yuma, disbanded on April 
30th. One boat was completely destroyed in Rapid 
No. 249 ; but only two sacks of provisions were lost 
in the whole journey. 

" Thus had the two expeditions, considered as one, 
travelled by boat a distance of over fourteen hundred miles, 
had passed over — running nearly all of them — five hun- 
dred and twenty rapids, falls, and cataracts in less than 
five hundred miles, making a total fall of forty-five hun- 
dred feet, and had passed successfully through the dark 
canyons of one of the most tempestuous rivers of the 
world." — R. B. Stanton. 

Mr. Stanton wrote an excellent popular account 
of this trip, which appeared in " Scribner's " for 
November, 1890, and a scientific report from the 
engineer's standpoint, which was published in the 
" Transactions of the American Society of Civil 
Engineers," April, 1892. In this report he discusses 



40 IN AND AROUND 

the feasibility and practicability of building a rail- 
way through the canyons of the Colorado with the 
object of connecting the coal fields of Colorado with 
the Pacific Coast. 

" It is hoped that in this description there has not only 
been shown the entire practicabihty of the canyons of the 
Colorado River for raihvay purposes, both from an eco- 
nomical as well as a purely engineering point of view, 
but that there has also been some light cast upon the 
nature and possibilities of a portion of our great Western 
empire, which, to many, has been less known than the 
heart of Africa." — R. B. STANTON. 

The popular narrative is exciting and entrancing. 

" On January 13th, we reached Point Retreat, where 
we left the canyon on our homeward march just six 
months before. We found our supplies, — blankets, flour, 
sugar, coffee, etc., which we had cached in the marble 
cave, all in good condition. From the head of the Colo- 
rado to Point Retreat we had encountered one hundred 
and forty-four rapids, not counting small draws, in a dis- 
tance of two hundred and forty miles. From Lee's Ferry 
to Point Retreat there are forty-four rapids, in a distance 
of thirty miles. With our new boats we ran nearly all 
of these, and portaged but few; over many of them our 
boats had danced and jumped at the rate of fifteen miles 
an hour, and over some, by actual measurement, at the 
rate of twenty miles per hour. To stand in the bow of 
one of these boats as she dashes through a great rapid, 
with first the bow and then the stern jumping into the 
air, and the spray of the breakers splashing over one's 
head, is an excitement the fascination of which can only 
be understood through experience. 

" Ten miles below Point Retreat, as we went into camp 
one evening, we discovered the body of Peter M. Hans- 



THE GRAND CANYON 41 

brough, one of the boatmen drowned on our trip last 
summer. His remains were easily recognized from the 
clothing that was still on them. The next morning we 
buried them under an overhanging cliff. The burial ser- 
vice was brief and simple. We stood around the grave 
while one short prayer was offered, and we left him with 
a shaft of pure marble for his headstone, seven hundred 
feet high, with his name cut upon the base; and in honor 
of his memory we named a magnificent point opposite — 
Point Hansbrough. 

"February 5th, we passed Bright Angel Creek, in the 
Granite Gorge of the Grand Canyon, and on the 6th came 
to the most powerful and unmanageable rapid we had 
met on the river. We portaged our supplies, and fol- 
lowed our usual method of swinging the empty boats 
down by lines. My boat was to go first. The two hun- 
dred and fifty foot line was strung out ahead, and the boat 
was strung into the stream. She rode the huge waves 
with ease, and went below the rapid without injury. The 
men and the line worked well and payed out smoothly; 
but when the boat reached the foot of the fall, she acted 
like a young colt eager for play. 

" She turned her nose out toward the current, and as 
it struck her, she started like a shot for the other side of 
the river. The men held to her doggedly. After cross- 
ing the current she turned and came back into the eddy, 
and for a few moments stood still, just as a colt ready for 
another prance. The men rushed down along the rocks 
to get the line ahead, but before they could get far enough, 
she turned her head again to the stream. The men put 
their wills into their arms and held her once more; she 
did not cross the current, but on reaching the centre 
dipped her nose under as if trying her strength, came 
up at once, rose on a wave, and then, as if for a final 
effort to gain her liberty, dived her head under, filled 
with water, and went completely out of sight. In a few 
moments she rose to the surface, and slowly and leisurely 



42 IN AND AROUND 

floated sidewise across the eddy toward shore, and quietly 
stopped alongside a shelving rock. 

" To prevent another such experience we adopted 
Major Powell's plan in such cases, of shooting the boat 
through and catching it below. 

"The ' Marie,' the rebuilt boat, was started first. She 
rode gracefully the high waves at the head of the rapid, 
but in the middle she turned, partially filled with water, 
shot to one side, struck against the cliff, sank in the worst 
part of the rapid, and came up in pieces about the size 
of toothpicks — our five days' labor and our boat gone 
together ! " — R. B. Stanton. 

This is the rapid just below the foot of Mystic 
Spring Trail. 

On the 1 2th of January, 1897, N. Galloway, a 
Mormon trapper, well versed in the upper canyons 
of the Green River, accompanied by William Rich- 
mond, left near the State line of Wyoming and 
Utah, in boats of Mr. Galloway's own construction, 
for the trip through the canyons. 

In those frail, rude boats they journeyed four- 
teen hundred miles, emerging through the steep 
canyon walls on the 3d day of February, and on 
the 17th of that month completing the trip at the 
Needles. 

Shortly prior to their trip, George Flavall, a 
Needles boatman, had, unaccompanied, accom- 
plished the same daring venture. 

As Galloway and Richmond reached the open 
country below the Grand Wash, they came upon 
the officers who had found the bodies of two men 
killed by a Paiuti Indian, named Mouse. This 
officer requested them to allow their boats to be 



THE GRAND CANYON 43 

used to convey the bodies down to the Needles. 
They did so, and on their arrival sold the boats 
and returned to their homes in Utah. 

Some months later I was fortunate enough to 
arrive at Lee's Ferry, when Mr. Galloway was 
there with a new boat he had just built, with 
which he proposed going up the river to a placer 
gold claim he had located in Glen Canyon. After 
considerable persuasion he was prevailed upon to 
take me up the canyon to his gold claim, and also 
down Marble Canyon, to Soap Creek Rapids, one 
of the most dangerous rapids in the canyon and 
near which Frank Brown lost his life. A brief ac- 
count of this trip is given in a subsequent chapter. 

In the " Youth's Companion," some few years 
ago, A. EUbrace wrote a wild and improbable 
story about a trip having been made through the 
Grand Canyon by a man named Robinson, and, 
in a footnote, states that doubtless the archives of 
Fort Mohave of the year 1867 will give authentica- 
tion to his narrative. 



44 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER V 

FLAGSTAFP\ THE SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAINS, THE 
CLIFF AND CAVE DWELLINGS, AND THE DEAD 
VOLCANOES 

FOR several years the Grand Canyon was reached 
mainly by stages operated from Flagstaff, hence 
to many tourists this little town is inseparably asso- 
ciated with the Canyon. It is beautiful for situa- 
tion, tree-surrounded, mountain-shadowed, breeze- 
blown, healthful, and picturesque. At an elevation 
of about seven thousand feet it nestles at the base 
of the San Francisco Mountains, whose three rough, 
volcanic peaks stand guard, as giant Graces, over 
the cluster of homes at their feet. 

It is a typical Western town. The railway track 
lines one side of the main street, and business 
blocks, many of which are saloons, the other, fully 
justifying the aflfirmation made in the town's adver- 
tising literature that " there is nothing puritanical 
about Flagstaff," It is the county seat of Coconino 
County, and has a- population of about twenty-five 
hundred people. It possesses a fine stone court- 
house, high school, three churches, and the Territo- 
rial Normal School. It is the trading centre for the 
cattle, sheep, and mining men of a large surround- 
ing country. As a pleasant summer resort it has 
already acquired a reputation in the territory. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



45 



Whichever way the traveller approaches Flag- 
staff, whether from the western desert region or 
from the wild rockiness of New Mexico, he is en- 
chanted as the train enters the forest lands about 
fifteen miles before reaching Flagstaff. The tall 
pines, growing larger as the forest is penetrated. 




The Watering Troughs at Ckdai^ Ranch on the Way from 
Flagstaff to the Canyon. 

are a pleasant and welcome sight after passing over 
the arid lands of western New Mexico and the 
rugged, rock-ribbed dreariness of the continental 
divide. 



"The whole face of the country changes at this point, 
as if you had been transported to another land. The mo- 
notony of the leafless undulating prairies gives place to 
picturesque mountains and fertile valleys, richly decked 
with green deciduous foliage, and the eye rests with plea- 



46 IN AND AROUND 

sure upon long vistas of pine forest, where monarchs of the 
glades raise their towering crests hundreds of feet toward 
the sky, each tree standing solitary and straight, as if 
planted and trained by skilled hands, and with not a par- 
ticle of undergrowth to choke up the surface of the green- 
sward beneath. This grand woodland scene stretches 
away from the base of the San Francisco Mountains south- 
ward for a distance of nearly two hundred miles, and the 
forest averages over fifty miles in width. This enormous 
forest, which is the largest in the country outside of Mich- 
igan, Wisconsin, and Washington Territory, covers an area 
of over ten thousand square miles, and contains six million 
four hundred thousand acres. It is larger than the State 
of Massachusetts, is double the size of Connecticut, and 
covers more ground than the States of Delaware and New 
Jersey combined." — Tinkers "A Land 0/ Suns/ii;ie." 

Though it contains no trees equal to the Sequoia 
gigantea of California, many of them are giants in 
size, and there are over eighty varieties. 

" Among them are red and yellow juniper, cypress, 
walnut, oak, ash, hickory, sycamore, cedar, wild cherry, 
locust, ironwood, and other useful varieties, although the 
pine is the principal timber. 

" The Arizona Lumber and Timber Company own or 
control a considerable portion of the forest. They have a 
sawmill on the edge of the forest, about a half-mile from 
Flagstaff, with a capacity of thirty-five million feet a year, 
but are now only turning out at the rate of twelve million 
feet a year." — FUNSTON. 

Cave and Cliff Dwellings 

On the eastern side of the San Francisco Moun- 
tains, ten miles from Flagstaff, are the Cave Dwell- 
ings. They are dug out of the soft and porous 



THE GRAND CANYON 47 

pumice stone or disintegrating basic lava of a 
volcanic region, and, as their name implies, are 
holes in the ground used by a wretched people as 
dwellings. Sometimes the larger and outer cham- 
bers communicate with inner and smaller chambers. 
There are manv evidences of their havinsf been in- 
habited, in the marks of fire in the caves, corn-cobs 
strewn about, and the masses of broken pottery 
scattered all over the mountain slopes. Surround- 
ing them, in many places, are walls built of lava, 
doubtless to protect themselves from the winds and 
their relentless enemies, the nomad Apaches, Nava- 
hos, Utes, and Comanches. 

Ten miles southeast from the Caves are the 
Cliff Dwellings of Walnut Canyon. This canyon 
is undoubtedly the work of corrasion and subse- 
quent erosion, as is the Grand Canyon, and forms 
a part of the canyon system which intersects this 
whole country for many miles. It is from six hundred 
to seven hundred feet deep where the Cliff Dwellers 
made their homes, and is a singularly picturesque and 
romantic site for such a purpose. The canyon is 
largely composed of cherty limestone, in shelves, on 
many of which the disintegrating forces of Nature 
have worn and carried away the floor and part of 
the solid walls, thus leaving immense hanging — 
or projecting — over-shelves, under which the Cliff 
Dwellers built their walls. The rear and upper 
walls afforded back and roof, and all that had 
to be done was to construct front and side walls, 
and the " houses " were complete. These walls are 
built of rude blocks of lime and sandstone cemented 
with adobe mud. As the shelves are at different 



48 IN AND AROUND 

levels, the dwellings are found at various elevations, 
but invariably at a sufficient height to be safe from 
the rising of water in the canyon below, and from 
the attacks of enemies from above. 



The Bottomless Pit 

On the way out to Walnut Canyon a singular 
geological fault, not uncommon in this region, is 
passed, known to the people of the locality as the 
Bottomless Pit. The name is a western exaggera- 
tion, for it is possible to descend to the bottom of 
this orreat hole. Dante Descent, near Ashfork, is a 
similar fault, and one is passed on the south side 
of the railway between Flagstaff and Ashfork. 
There is another between Ashfork and Bass 
Camp at the Canyon, known to the Havasupais as 
Waimel. 

Sunset Crater and the Lava Fields 

About twenty miles northeast of Flagstaff, cir- 
cline from the town around Mt. Elden — the south- 
eastern offshoot of the San Francisco range — is 
Sunset Crater, so named from the fact that it al- 
ways presents the rich, peach-blow appearance of 
sunset. This is caused by the warm coloring of 
the oxydized rock of the summit, which, resting 
above the slopes covered with such intensely black 
volcanic cinders as to appear as if made of coarse 
gunpowder, makes a contrast so distinctly marked 
as to suggest a vivid sunset, even when seen on a 
cloudy day. A little to the northwest of Sunset 
Peak is O'Leary Peak, and between these is one 



THE GRAND CANYON 49 

of the most desolate, harsh, jagged, cruel-looking, 
forbidding beds of lava I have ever seen. It is not 
of great extent, but what there is, is absolutely barren, 
awe-inspiring, and forsaken. Tossed, upheaved, split, 
seamed, torn, it has scarcely a living thing of green 
to relieve its awesome appearance of death. Nebu- 
chadnezzar's furnace, when cooled, was, even in 
miniature, a pleasing spectacle compared with this 
region of desolation and gloom. It is Hell's garden, 
for the uptossed lava masses look like huge black 
cauliflowers, fit food for demons. Here are caves 
within caves, made by the bubbling gases when this 
was a flowing river of blazing rock. 

Climb up the slope of OTeary Peak and look 
over this dark, forbidding sea. Waves of blackness 
are there, just as they must have tossed in the aw- 
fulness of that dread deluQ^e of fire, but arrested in 
their mad leaps, and now cooled for centuries. 
Torrents of black horror, poured, deluge-like, over 
the once fertile land, and are now stopped, as by 
magic, and converted into cruel stone. And there to 
the southeast stands the great Sunset Peak, — itself, 
perhaps, the crater from whose richly tinted, peach- 
iDlossomy summit these waves of dire destruction 
came, — smiling and gay in midsummer glory all 
the year, regardless of the gruesome sight it has 
made below. When all else is dark and forbidding, 
it smiles and glows. When angry clouds lower and 
rage, it still smirks and gleams. It laughs at the 
desolation it has caused, and is glowingly happy in 
contemplation of the deaths petrified at its feet. 
Type of devilish, wanton destructiveness ; fair to look 
upon, yet the source of misery, desolation, death. 

4 



50 IN AND AROUND 

With a companion I crossed this black field of 
horror. The lava soon cut our shoes almost to 
pieces. In the very heart of the field we came 
upon a level plain, covered with black ashes, of 
perhaps an acre or so in extent. My companion 
called my attention to a large hole he had discov- 
ered, and, on looking into it, we found we were 
standing on a thin shell, liable at any time to fall 
in and produce the rugged, jagged appearance 
elsewhere presented. I termed this Gunpowder 
Plateau. 

A little beyond is Beelzebub Creek, where the 
channel is made as if the melted limestone, of which 
it is formed, had been turned up on each side with 
a gigantic ploughshare. In places it is arched over 
with the twisted and overturned burnt rock, and 
has thus become a perfect " Devil's Avenue" — an 
under pathway to the Hades of the lost. 

The San Francisco Peaks 

A delightful experience while in Flagstaff is to 
take a survey of the country from the summit of the 
San Francisco Mountains. Mr. Al. Doyle has con- 
structed an easy trail to the summit, and the ride 
can be accomplished in a few hours. 

The United States Monument is on the highest 
peak, Mt. Humphreys. Far away before us to the 
north are the upper terrace and gray cliffs of the 
Grand Canyon, at its most elevated point. The 
Kaibab Plateau — the highest of all the Colorado 
River plateaus — stands out boldly above the sur- 
rounding country. The Kanab Plateau with the 



THE GRAND CANYON 51 

Uinkaret Mountains, overtopped by Mt. Trumbull, 
are clearly outlined miles and miles away against 
the softened blue of the northwestern sky. Beyond 
them, but barely discernible, are the Virgen Moun- 
tains and the Pine Val Mountains. A little to our 
left, and seeming only a long footstep, is Mt. Ken- 
dricks, and a little farther on Mt. Sitgreaves, and 
still further the conical peak of Williams Mountain. 
Between the two first named mountains a shower is 
falling, whilst all around us is the most beautiful 
sunshine. Close by are a number of smaller hills, 
many having basins in the top, suggesting their vol- 
canic orioin. Some of these basins contain beautiful 
lakes, — during the rainy season, — and there they 
lie, mirrors for the angels, and sweet reflectors of 
the many formed clouds above. 

We can see lakes in almost every direction, — 
over twenty being clearly visible from this point. 
Trees, also, are everywhere, — rich, heavy, thick, 
dense pines and fir balsams, and here and there 
streaks of silver, showing groves of quaking aspen 
or Cottonwood. The mountain is ribbed with snow 
all around, although it is the middle of July, — one 
bank here to my left being several hundred feet 
wide and over a mile long. Myriads of butterflies 
and other insects fly about in perpetual gayety, re- 
lieving these bare, rugged rocks of some of their 
forbidding aspect. 

Turning a little north of east we can clearly 
follow the outline of the canyon of the Little 
Colorado. Its nether wall is a striking fa9ade, and 
there are cliffs which tower up here and there, 
like the watch-towers of a gigantic castle. Beyond, 



52 IN AND AROUND 

like a pale blue cloud closely anchored to the cliffs 
below, is the Navaho Mountain, nearly two hun- 
dred miles away. To the southeast the landscape 
is more open, with beautiful reliefs here and there 
of grassy slopes and tree-covered hills. 

Close at our feet are Sunset and O'Leary Peaks, 
whilst away off to the southeast is the wonderful 
Petrified Forest. 

The region to the south is one mass of verdure, 
— rugged slopes made entrancingly beautiful by a 
thick covering of pines, which seem black and 
purple under the influence of sunshine and clouds. 
Thirteen lakes of various forms and sizes give a 
peculiar charm and brilliancy to the scene. The 
rugged cliffs, spires, and pinnacles of Oak Creek 
Canyon shine out in the sunlight, and the circular 
panorama is one far more beautiful than the casual 
observer in Arizona could believe. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



53 



CHAPTER VI 

FROM THE SANTA FE RAILWAY TO THE CANYON 
BY STAGE 

WHILE most visitors to the canyon have jour- 
neyed on the stage from Flagstaff, my most 
enjoyable experiences have been from Ashfork, a 
small town at the junction of the main line and the 
Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix Railway. 

Eight miles west is a peculiar geological fault 
well worth visiting, which I have named Dante 
Descent. It is about five hundred and fifty feet 
around, on the level ground, from which it gradually 
slopes for about thirty-five feet, when it makes a 
precipitous drop for nearly three hundred feet. As 
one approaches it on the level mesa where it is 
found, he has no idea of its existence, from any- 
thino^ visible. It is revealed in a moment in its 
weird awfulness ; for a dark, apparently bottomless 
hole, suddenly opening up before one, is apt to 
convey the impression implied in the words "weird " 
and " awful." The first fifty feet is of volcanic rock, 
then there is a small bed of red clay resting upon 
sandstone which extends to the bottom. This and 
all the similar holes found in the region were un- 
doubtedly formed by the dropping out of the bot- 
tom into some vast cave, which was made by the 
slow washing out of the limestone rock by water 



54 IN AND AROUND 

chemically charged so as to rapidly decompose the 
limestone. Possibly one of the many subterranean 
rivers, of the existence of which there is plenty of 
evidence throughout Arizona, flows under Dante 
Descent. 

Through rolling hills, clothed with rich grama — 
black and wlrite — and other grasses, a profusion of 
hardy wild flowers and the smaller brush, the four- 
horse stage of Mr. W. W. Bass leaves Ashfork for 
the Canyon. In less than half a mile we are in 
the midst of a restful forest, not composed of lordly 
pines, but of cedars and junipers, whose gnarled, 
twisted, and contorted branches are made pictur- 
esque in their rich clothing of green. 

Many of the cedars present the appearance of 
being in blossom, decorated as they are with the 
great yellow parasitic bunches of mistletoe. The 
entire country is a rich pasture land. Everywhere 
is found the white grama grass, which grows in 
complete but irregular circles, leaving a little hollow 
in the centre, like a bird's nest. There is also the 
bunch, buffalo, mesquite, sand, and bear grasses, and 
even the beautiful blue grass. Besides the pinion 
and cedar there is the live oak, over whose acorns 
lively squirrels and gossiping jay-birds quarrel and 
chatter; the sage brush, grease wood, yucca, mes- 
quite, mescal, and many varieties of cactus. 

The road is fairly smooth and level, and a steady 
pace is kept up, which a slight run down hill 
scarcely interferes with. Twelve miles out Indian 
tanks are reached, where the Havasupai Indians 
long years ago built a rude dam to catch rain-water, 
that they might not be waterless w^hen out hunting 



THE GRAND CANYON S5 

so far away from their lovely canyon home, of which 
the blue water — Hahavasu — gives its name to 
both canyon and people. 

To the left is Mount Picacho, and farther to the 
north, also on the left, Mount Floyd, an absolutely 
pure purple, almost black in its richness and in- 




.« i^r z*..^ 



C o/'y right, 1S08, by Oliver L ippincott. 



The Flagstaff SxACiF: in Sight of the Sax Francisco 
Mountains. 

tensity, — both with their memories of Lieutenant 
Beale, whose wagon road is crossed a little farther 
on, — while to the east and south are to be seen, now 
and again, as the hills open to permit the view, the 
more majestic piles of the San FVancisco Moun- 
tains, Kendricks, Sitgreaves, and Williams. These 
mountains, at times, like masses of limpid purple 
velvet, are softly outlined against the cloud-flecked, 



56 IN AND AROUND 

sunny sky, while beyond them the blue is shaded off 
into an amethystine violet by the cloud-hidden sun. 

To our right, in solitary stateliness, rises the 
"Red Butte," which the Havasupais call Hue-ga-da- 
wi-za. Williams Mountain they designate Hue-ga- 
woo-la, the mountain of the bear, and the San 
Franciscos, Hue-han-a-patch-a, the snow-clad moun- 
tains. From these three names it will be apparent 
that Hue signifies mountain or rock — to the 
Indian — and the remaining portion of the name 
gives some special description. 

For over twenty miles the road continues through 
Cedar Park, no more beautiful, gently rolling, tree- 
clad region existing in Arizona or elsewhere, and 
then we enter the western section of that great 
Pijitado Desierto, the boundaries of which no to- 
pographer has yet had the temerity to define. But 
at this time it is no " desert." The coloring is 
here, but after the summer rains it is a vast graz- 
ing ground, where a multiplicity of herds and flocks 
might find ample nourishment for long months. 
The uncertainty of the rains and the doubtful 
permanence of the fertility of these vast plateaus, 
however, render them hazardous locations for large 
bands of animals. But now they are charming in 
their green dress, and we laugh at the expression 
" desert" as applied to them. 

Many a time on the Painted Desert have I been 
deceived by a mirage in the glare of the midday 
sun, but seldom is it the good fortune of the trav- 
eller to see a moonlit mirage. One night, as 1 
slept in the open near The Caves, I saw one and 
wrote as follows : About three miles away it appears, 



THE GRAND CANYON 



S7 



a city on a plain, between two ranges of hills which 
are as diverse as they can be. The one to the 
right is the exact counterpart of the richly clad 
slopes of MacGillicuddy Reeks in the Emerald 
Isle, whilst the others are the barren, sand-worn 
hills that fringe the Libyan Desert. The delusion 




Looking for the Caves. 



is perfect. The city slowly forms itself, and domes, 
mosques, minarets, red-roofed houses, palaces with 
noble and imposing fa9ades appear, as if an oriental 
city — Cairo or Alexandria — were placed before us. 
Now the palaces change to buildings of a business 
character, and before them a long quay extends, be- 
fore which one can see the distinctive shipping of 
many nations. Waves caressed b}^ silvery bands 
stretch to the rioht and left, whilst the two ransres 
of hills chansfe and seem as if made of livincj sfold. 



58 IN AND AROUND 

Another change, then haziness, and the mystic scene 
disappears. 

Ahnost midway between Ashfork and the Canyon 
we enter a sHght depression, where the waters of 
Cataract Creek flow in the season of rains. A 
turn in the road and Cataract Caves — the half- 
way station — is reached, where a commodious 
tent has been constructed over the " Caves," — called 
by the Havasupais Wai-mel, — caused by the drop- 
ping in of the surface to supply the never-satisfied 
Cataract Creek, which is here rasping out another 
and underground passage-way for its waters from 
Williams Mountain to the place of their emer- 
gence just above the Havasupai village. The 
Indians have a tradition that this stream, at one 
time, flowed entirely above ground from the moun- 
tains, down their canyon to the Colorado River, 
but that a long time ago " ground heap shake 'em, 
water he go down." Mr. Bass claims that here is 
a perfect illustration of the forces at actual work 
which account for the existence of the Grand Can- 
yon, the theory of whose creation as expounded by 
Major J. W. Powell and Captain C. A. Dutton, and 
briefly outlined in a later chapter, he rejects. He 
says : — 

" Hundreds of depressions, caves, and crevices are found 
along this channel, indicating that the earth's crust has 
been shattered and broken. A subterranean stream of 
2000 cubic inches of water is here rasping out another 
great canyon, while these rents are protected from the 
corrosive force of erosion by the soil and debris that 
cover them. The flood waters of the winter snow and 
summer rain have eaten out a channel through this basin 



THE GRAND CANYON 59 

of the Cataract, and in many places uncovered the volcanic 
rents in the earth's crust, opening up channels through 
which thousands of tons of the surface deposits are an- 
nually carried down into this subterranean river to make 
new land, where the water has no longer the power to 
hold it. This ceaseless industry will continue until the 
lateral exposure to heat, frost, wind, and rain begins its 
work of destruction. Disintegration will then be rapid, 
and the walls of this gap in the earth, that now are only a 
few inches removed from each other, will recede farther 
and farther apart until they have reached the shore line of 
this hidden stream, thus forming a narrow defile of per- 
pendicular walls of immense depth." 

Passengers generally remain at The Caves over 
night, the easy ride for two days being much pre- 
ferred to rushing through to the Canyon in one 
day, although with four relays of horses, the journey 
can easily be made in eight to nine hours. 

It is seldom that the second day's journey is 
made without seeing one or more bands of ante- 
lope. One morning, soon after we left The Caves, 
we saw, to the left, a herd of ten or twelve. The 
moment our attention was called to them, they 
began to run. They were not at all excited or 
alarmed, but, with easy, gentle motion moved from 
us, their short white tails distinctly contrasting with 
their whitey-brown bodies. 

Returning with a companion from the Canyon on 
horseback in September, 1895, we saw four separate 
bands of antelope. In the first band were four, in 
the second thirteen, in the third sixteen, and in the 
fourth seventeen. They were all so tame and gentle 
that if one had been so minded, he could easily have 
shot one or more of each band. One band was in 



6o IN AND AROUND 

the roadway about a quarter of a mile ahead of us 
and remained watching our approach with curiosity 
until we were within two or three hundred yards. 

On one occasion, 1898, we were driving in the 
coach from the head of the Bright Angel Trail along 
the rim of the Canyon to the Grand View Trail. 
The road is wooded nearly all the way. When 
nearly opposite the amphitheatre upon which Thor 
Hammer and Cleopatra Needle stand, a large doe 
ran across our roadway not fifty yards ahead of us, 
then continued parallel with the road twenty or 
thirty yards away, ran to our rear for perhaps a 
quarter of a mile, and then resumed browsing. We 
kept her in sight for a long distance. 

Many a time have I gone over this road in a 
heavy wagon in which were all our supplies for 
man and beast for a prolonged stay at the Canyon. 
We had to camp out and endure (or " enjoy," which- 
ever we felt like calling it) the hardships, or pleasures, 
of .sleeping wherever a pool of water made camping 
possible. And on such trips how one learns things ! 
Wlien I was a lad, a common, current expression 
was, " There 's nothing like leather." But to the 
Arizonapioneer and traveller it has become, " There 's 
nothing like baling wire." A single-tree breaks — 
tie it up with baling wire. A wagon pole snaps in 
two — make a splint and tie it on with baling wire. 
A tire comes off — slip it on and keep it in place 
with baling wire. Harness breaks — baling wire. 
Buttons come off — baling wire. Canteen-strap 
breaks — baling wire. Indeed, I am convinced that 
if some of the old-timers were left alone they would 
replace each portion of wagon, harness, and their 



THE GRAND CANYON 6i 

own clothing with bahng wire, until, in the course 
of time, a new organization, constructed of nothing 
but baling wire, would come into existence. 

Then, too, the tenderfoot here learns something 
of that strange operation of " hobbling a horse." 
The faith of these Arizona drivers is marvellous. 
With a pasture fenced on the west by the Pacific, 
on the east by the Atlantic, on the south by the 
Isthmus of Panama, and on the north by the Arctic 
Circle, they will turn their horses loose, upon which 
their lives actually depend, — for, to be left to walk 
over some portions of these deserts would certainly 
mean a horrible death, — and calmly and content- 
edly go to sleep. The situation is just this : Horses 
must eat, but men must sleep. If the former are 
tied up without food, it will not be long before travel 
becomes impossible. To carry feed, except perhaps 
a little grain, is out of the question. The only thing 
to be done is to "hobble" the horses and "turn 
them loose." There are patent hobbles and primi- 
tive hobbles, white men's hobbles and Indian's 
hobbles. To hobble a horse is to tie his forelegs 
together so that he cannot run swiftly, though he 
can hop with both forelegs raised at once, in a man- 
ner which makes him somewhat resemble a travel- 
ling kangaroo. 

Then in the early morning the horses must be 
trailed, unhobbled, and brought back to camp. 
Some men will be Q-one half the mornins^ looking: 
for their stock. They are incapable of quick trail- 
ing. Others will have them in while you are still 
snoring, and you awake later without any knowl- 
edge of the early work that has been done on your 



62 IN AND AROUND 

behalf. I liave been out in company with both 
kinds of " trailers," so know both experiences. From 
my first trip, when Mr. Bass brought in the horses 
soon after sunrise, to the present time, his skill in 
following "tracks" has always been a source of 
wonderment to me, for he is as expert in it as any 
Indian it has ever been my good fortune to meet. 

On that first trip we were going to the Grand 
Canyon, and then to Havasupai village, with a special 
Indian commissioner. I had been told it seldom 
rained in Arizona, but that day how it did pour ! 
It came down in bucketfuls, and even the pockets of 
my linen duster were soon full of water. And as 
my horse loped on, I swashed in the water in every 
direction. But it was when "he began to trot that 
the full misery of the situation was exposed. To 
be soaking wet, and to feel it as each bump of the 
saddle gave me a pressing and clinging reminder of 
the fact, was adding insult to injury. It was a 
situation for a Mark Tapley. Ahead drove Mr. Bass 
and the commissioner in the wagon, crouched over 
their knees and covered with a wildly waving um- 
brella; all conversation stopped. When I rode 
up and saw their countenances, I could believe them 
when they said they were as " miserable as sin." 
But over a rousing camp-fire, when night came, clear 
and beautiful, the discomforts were soon forgotten 
and pleasure resumed her sway. 

Soon after leaving The Caves the traveller's atten- 
tion is arrested by a striking view of a bold promon- 
tory to the north, which rises above all else in the 
landscape, looking as if it were thrust up for espe- 
cial observation. It is a Point Sublime, not the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



63 



Point Sublime of Captain Dutton, which is a few 
miles farther east, but apparently the highest point 
the northern wall of the Grand Canyon presents. 
It is directly opposite Bass Camp, at the head of the 
Mystic Spring Trail, whither our steeds are fast 
hastenino- us. I have named it Dutton Point in 






CofyrigM, IH'M, by F. H. Maude. 

Dutton Point Forty Miles away. 

honor of the distinguished geologist and brilliant 
writer. 

We cross the Moki Trail, that solitary line ruled 
across the Painted Desert centuries ago by the pa- 
tient Pueblo Hopis as they passed and repassed to 
their trading with their friends of the " Down 
Below," the Kohoninos, as the Spaniards wrote the 
Kuhni-qui of the Zunis ; the Havasupai, as they call 
themselves. We recall the vivid description given by 
Lieutenant Frank Cushing of his trip from Zuni, via 



64 IN AND AROUND 

Hopi and over this trail to these " younger brothers " 
of the tribe into which he had been adopted, and 
are tliankful that the hardships he endured in his 
trip are not hkely to be ours. 

When we strike the borders of the cedar and 
juniper forest on the northern end of our trip, we 
know we are not far away from the Canyon. Even 
our horses seem to find new Hfe in that fact. A 
vast grassy field is entered, then the enclosed pasture, 
and after travellino- three miles farther the tents of 
Bass Camp gleam white before us, when, suddenly, 
without a moment's warning, the stage stops by the 
side and at the very brink of the Great Abyss. 



THE GRAND CANYON 65 



CHAPTER VII 

TO THE CANYON BY RAILWAY, AND A FEW PRAC- 
TICAL SUGGESTIONS TO THE TOURIST 

FOUR or five years ago the Tusayan Develop, 
ment Company of New York became interested 
in a group of copper mines located at no great dis- 
tance from the head of the Bright Angel Trail. 
The promoter of the proposition was " Bucky " 
O'Neill, a prominent Arizona citizen, since made 
world-famous by his tragic death, when charging 
with the Rough Riders at the assault on San Juan. 
The New York company expended considerable 
money in developing and opening up the mines, 
and also interested other people with them in the 
work. As the Bright Angel Trail and Indian 
Gardens were near to the mines, the capitalists 
soon became interested in the Grand Canyon from 
the scenic standpoint, and, foreseeing the never- 
ending attraction it would prove to transcontinental 
tourists when made easily accessible, they secured 
control of the trail, and made nesrotiations and 
petitions which eventuated in their securing from 
Congress a grant for a railway through the Grand 
Canyon Forest Reserve. This railway is now built. 
The mining company has already erected a large 
smelting plant at Williams, and it is from this point 
that the railway starts. Striking due north, it 

5 



66 IN AND AROUND 

passes over the masses of " malapais " until, when 
four miles out, it crosses one of the upper reaches of 
Havasu (Cataract) Creek. If the rains are just over, 
the whole country will be one mass of green and 
gorgeously beautiful wild flowers, wdth possibly 
here and there a healthful and interesting band 
of sheep. At other times the country may look 
rocky and barren, or be covered with a mantle of 
snow. 

After crossing Havasu, the railway enters the 
cedars and junipers, passes Red Lake, — a vol- 
canic sink-hole, which, at rare intervals, is filled 
with water, — and for ten or a dozen miles is in a 
series of charming parks where bands of deer and 
antelope are often seen. 

All the way along glimpses and fine full views are 
being presented of the majestic San Francisco, Ken- 
dricks, and Sitgreaves Mountains, while Williams 
Mountain, with its seven wooded and rounded 
peaks, appears to grow larger the farther away we 
travel. 

Twenty-nine miles out, near the station of Valle, 
is the big bridge, some fifty feet high and three 
hundred feet long, over a branch of the Spring 
Valley Wash ; and here Red Butte becomes a 
prominent landmark to the right. This is known 
to the Havasupai Indians as Hue-ga-da-wi'-za, or the 
" Mountain of the Clenched Fist." It is upon this 
butte that a small fragment of the rich red of the 
Permian sandstone that once covered the whole 
Grand Canyon region is to be found ; and when 
this is brilliantly illuminated by the unrestrained 
Arizona sunlight, it eloquently explains why Red 



THE GRAND CANYON 67 

Butte for so long has been regarded as a prominent 
landmark of this portion of the Painted Desert. 

For here the great plateau, stretching away to 
east and west, and once, undoubtedly, a portion of 
the vast Eocene Lake, is a part of that mysterious, 
unbounded, and alluring Painted Desert, the colors 
of which, seen under proper conditions, bewilder 
with their intensity while they attract by their rich- 
ness. 

Interesting stories might be told of Red Butte 
and its region. The Havasupais have a tradition 
that many years ago a large spring of water flowed 
from near its base, but that in a great convulsion of 
nature, which changed the current of the waters of 
Havasu (Cataract) Creek, the spring disappeared, 
and has never since been seen. The presence of a 
number of quaking aspens in the region, however, 
is reasonable indication that water is still there. 

I am also informed that it was recently discovered, 
in looking over some titles in the old registers at 
Tucson, that silver mining was extensively carried 
on near Red Butte by the Spaniards about the year 
1650 and later. 

Crossing the Red Horse Wash, known to the 
Havasupais as Ha-i-ga-sa-jul'-ga, the line reaches 
Anita Junction. Here a spur three miles long 
connects the main line with the copper mines of 
the Anita, Cardenas, Nyack, and Five Friend com- 
panies. The grade of the spur has been so en- 
gineered that the loaded cars of ore from the mines 
are brought down by gravity. 

When discovered, the ore deposits of these mines 
were found to be great surface blankets, the mineral 



68 IN AND AROUND 

mainly consisting of carbonates of copper of from 
io% to 20%. This ore was found in such large 
quantities as to justify extensive operations. 

Further developments incline the mining experts 
to the theory that these blanket deposits are out- 
flows from the interior of the earth made during 
some seismic disturbance, and that the main ore 
bodies will be found in dikes or chimneys through 
which the ejection took place. At present the 
miners are working upon an ore deposit which 
offers every indication of being one of these dikes. 
It has been excavated to a depth of over thirty feet, 
and the richness of the ore increases as the shaft 
descends. This supposed chimney is located on 
the " Hard Up" claim of the Anita group of mines. 
Relying upon this theory, a shaft 231 feet has already 
been sunk on the line of the Anita and Cardenas 
mines, from which it is the intention to tunnel out 
to the ore bodies which the experts are assured 
must exist. 

In May, 1900, I personally visited the mines, and 
saw the workings and the ore dumps. The former 
showed many hundreds of tons of high grade ore 
in sight, and the latter contained not less than 
fifteen hundred tons of average ore, ready for 
reduction. It is interesting to note that in Feb- 
ruary, 1899, a shipment of non-selected ore was 
made to El Paso for reduction from the Anita 
mines, and the result was 13% in copper. A later 
shipment of one hundred tons of selected ore from 
the same camp secured a return of 21%. 

Soon after leaving Anita Junction, the railway 
enters a most beautiful country of pine and juniper, 



THE GRAND CANYON 69 

a stately prelude to the majesties and grandeurs of 
the Kohonino (Coconino) Forest. Here it seems 
as if one were suddenly transported to England, and 
were passing through a succession of landed estates, 
without, however, finding the accompanying man- 
sions. Aisles of stately trees, nature planted and 
grown, yet as perfectly in line as if set with mathe- 
matical precision, lead the eye into open glades 
where deer and antelope move to and fro, and one 
looks instinctively for the bold fa9ade of an his- 
toric dwellino- or the battlemented towers of some 
romantic castle. 

Now, bearing off in a westerly direction, the rail- 
way leaves the Kohonino Wash, and follows a pleas- 
ant little valley until within about two miles of 
Ha-ha-wai-i-tha-qual-ga, a natural well of clear, cold 
spring water, which is never dry, winter or summer. 
This well is reached up a well- wooded and pictur- 
esque "wash," and from thence, four miles through 
the forest, the enchanted passenger is landed at the 
Bright Angel Hotel. 

This hotel is located in latitude 35'' 55' 2,0'' . 
From the hotel to a point over Indian Garden 
named station A, the horizontal distance is 8,588 
feet, and to a rock in the Colorado River on the same 
line is 17,356 feet. The exact vertical descent from 
the hotel to Indian Garden is 3,108 feet, and from 
the garden to the Colorado River, 1,390, giving a 
total descent from hotel to river of 4,498 feet, — ■ 
practically, 5,000 feet. These are accurate measure- 
ments made by a skilled engineer. 

The entire length of the railway, including the 
spur to the mines, is seventy miles, and so easy is 



JO IN AND AROUND 

the grade that nowhere does it exceed 3%. The 
engineering work is without any distinctive fea- 
tures. 

The intelHgent visitor will not fail to remark, in 
riding toward the rim, that the Canyon itself is not 
the immediate watershed of its own banks. The 
country both north and south of the Canyon slopes 
back from the rim, so that the anomaly is presented 
of a river which does not drain the country con- 
tiguous to its own banks, except in an indirect way. 
The water flows _/r(9;/2 the rim many miles, and there 
empties, on the south, into either the Havasu (Cata- 
ract) Canyon or the Little Colorado, and these 
streams having rasped their way down, down, down, 
through the thousands of feet of solid strata, finally 
discharge the waters they have collected into the 
turbid stream of the Colorado Grande, which sullenly 
roars in the depths of the Grand Canyon. 

This fact, and many other indications found in 
the development of the mines, incline their pro- 
prietors to the seismic theory of the Canyon's 
formation rather than that of corrasion and slow 
uplift, as propounded by Powell and Dutton. It 
seems to them that the Canyon is located on 
the axis of a great uplift, that trends generally 
from the northeast to the southwest, and they 
claim that this slope of the country away from the 
Canyon, both north and south, helps to confirm 
their idea. 

Be this as it may, the fact is evident, and it is a 
source of regret that the government maps do not 
make it more plain to the tyro in map reading: 
for, several prospectors, trusting to the ordinary 



THE GRAND CANYON 71 

reading of the maps, have gone out expecting water, 
only to be disappointed almost to the point of 
death. 

It is too early yet to prophesy what will be done 
in the way of hotel building, but it is reasonable to 
assume that a good hotel will be erected at 
W illiams, and one at the head of the trail. This 
latter should be of the rustic and wild character, — 
rough logs, uncut boulders of the canyon stone, 
deep recessed porches, cavernous fireplaces, and 
the like. Then at Angel Point, on Angel Plateau, 
overlooking the raging waters of the Inner Gorge, 
another hotel of the more conventional type might 
be erected to good advantage. From it carriage 
roads could be constructed for a hundred miles 
or more, affording unexampled opportunities for 
observation and study of this wondrous waterway 
when two thousand to three thousand feet below 
the rim. The trail to the river has been much 
improved. Wire cables probably will be stretched 
across the Inner Gorge, to which boats can be 
attached, and thus the clear, sweet, medicinal waters 
of the Bright Angel Creek be made accessible. 

On the rim, carriage roads can be extended east- 
ward to the Grand View Hotel and Trail, and out 
even as far as the Little Colorado River, and westward 
to Havasupai Point, Bass Camp, the Mystic Spring 
Trail, Wallapai Point, and on to the head of the 
Topocobya, Moki, or Wallapai Trails to Havasu 
(Cataract) Canyon, thus making accessible the water- 
falls of that scenic reo-ion and allowing the visitor 
to see in his own home the little known Havasupai 
Indian. 



72 IN AND AROUND 

A Few Practical Suggestions to Canyon 
Tourists 

There are different classes of tourists. Some 
are anxious to see and know as much of the 
Canyon as possible, but are short of time; others 
have all the time there is, but merely visit the 
Canyon as a perfunctory performance, " because it 
is the proper thing to do." Still others have both 
time and desire. My suggestions are to the first 
and third classes. 

If, then, you are in a hurry, and wish to see as 
much of the Canyon as possible in a short time, 
plan at least for three days. The first of these 
spend on the rim,- riding eastward to O'Neill, Yaki, 
and Cremation Points. Visit also Mallery Grotto, 
where the Indian pictographs are. The second 
day spend westward. Go out to Pima, Maricopa, 
Hopi, and Cyclorama Points. The third day give 
to the trail, making the trip to and from the river. 
Or, perhaps it would be advisable to make this trip 
on the second day, and take the western trip last. 

If you have abundance of time and wish to knoiu 
this portion of the Canyon, make arrangements to go 
eastward to the Grand View Trail, which descend. 
Then ^o as far as Navaho Point, or, if the waoon 
or bridle road is completed, go to the Little Colo- 
rado River, where you can see the junction of the 
smaller river with its great namesake, the mouth 
of Marble Canyon, and the great nonconformity in 
the pre-Cambrian rocks, which is so fascinatingly 
described by Powell, Dutton, and Walcott in their 
respective works. 



THE GRAND CANYON 73 

Now, returning to Bright Angel Hotel, arrange 
for the descent of the trail, and, if possible, a day on 
Britrht Ano^el Creek on the other side of the 
river. 

In the mean time, plan with Mr. W. \V. Bass of 
the M3'Stic Spring Trail for a western trip which will 
take in Pima, Maricopa, Hopi, and Cyclorama 
Points, with all the other interesting points between 
Cyclorama and Havasupai Points, which latter, as 
I have elsewhere shown, is the chief outlook point 
of the whole south wall. Descend the Mystic 
Spring Trail, cross the river to the Shinumo 
Creek, and ascend the north wall on the Bass — 
Shinumo — Trail, Then, on the summit of the 
Kaibab Plateau visit Point Sublime, where Cap- 
tain Dutton sat when he wrote so poetically of 
the Canyon, and yet so learnedly and scientifically. 
Now return to Bass Camp, and from thence go to 
Havasu Canyon to see the Havasupai Indians, their 
most wonderful canyon home, and the charming 
waterfalls and caves that entrance all who see 
* them. 

The tourist who makes such excursions as I 
have here briefly outlined, and who uses his eyes 
and brain to good advantage, will have a fuller and 
clearer knowledge of the Canyon than was pos- 
sessed by any white man of ten years ago. 



74 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER VIII 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

IN local parlance the upper edge of the precipice 
walls that line the Canyon is called the " rim." 
We never speak of the " edge " of the Canyon, or 
the " banks " of the Colorado River. 

It is a popular idea that the Canyon is through 
a country of mountains. This is a mistake. In- 
stead, it cuts through a series of great plateaux, 
known on the north as the Kaibab, Powell, and 
Kanab Plateaux, and on the south as the Colorado 
Plateau. The singularity of this formation is such 
that one does not discover the existence of this 
vast waterway, as he journeys northward or south- 
ward, until he is on its very brink. Hence, the 
tremendous and startling surprise that awaits every 
visitor. The Canyon springs upon him with the 
leap of a panther, and, suggesting a deserted world, 
yawns at his feet before he is aware that he is 
within miles of it. It overwhelms him by its 
suddenness, and renders him speechless with its 
grandeur and masfnificence. 

No reading, no descriptions, no pictures, no 
warnings can prepare the mind for that one first 
stupendous, overwhelming impression. Here are 
the impressions of a few travellers : — 




Copyright, ISUS. by Oliver Lippincott. 

Ayer Peak, oveiilookixg the Oi.d Trail. 



THE GRAND CANYON y^ 

"Tired as we were, we could not wait. It was only to 
ascend the little steep, stony slope, — three hundred 
yards — and we should see! Our party were straggling 
up the hill : two or three had reached the edge. I looked 
up. The duchess threw up her hands and screamed. We 
were not fifteen paces behind, but we saw nothing. 
We took the few steps, and the whole magnificence broke 
upon us. No one could be prepared for it. The scene 
is one to strike dumb with awe, or to unstring the nerves; 
one might stand in silent astonishment, another would 
burst into tears. 

" There are some experiences that cannot be repeated, 
— one's first view of Rome, one's first view of Jerusalem. 
But these emotions are produced by association, by the 
sudden standing face to face with the scenes most wrought 
into our whole life and education by tradition and reli- 
gion. This was without association, as it was without par- 
allel. It was a shock so novel that the mind, dazed, quite 
failed to comprehend it. All that we could grasp was a 
vast confusion of amphitheatres and strange architectural 
forms resplendent with color. The vastness of the view 
amazed us quite as much as its transcendent beauty. 

"We had expected a canyon, — two lines of perpendicular 
walls six thousand feet high, with the ribbon of a river at 
the bottom ; but the reader may dismiss all his notions 
of a canyon, indeed, of any sort of mountain or gorge 
scenery with which he is familiar. W^e had come into a 
new world. What we saw was not a canyon, or a chasm, 
or a gorge, but a vast area which is a break in the plateau. 
From where we stood it was twelve miles across to the 
opposite walls. We looked up and down for twenty to 
thirty miles. This great space is filled with gigantic archi- 
tectural constructions, with amphitheatres, gorges, preci- 
pices, walls of masonry, fortresses terraced up to the level 
of the eye, temples, mountain size, all brilliant with hori- 
zontal lines of color, — streaks of solid hues a few feet in 
width, streaks a thousand feet in width, — yellows, mingled 



76 IN AND AROUND 

white and gray, orange, dull red, brown, blue, carmine, 
green, all blending in the sunlight into one transcendent 
suffusion of splendor. Afar off we saw the river in two 
places, a mere thread, as motionless and smooth as a strip 
of mirror, only we knew it was a turbid, boiling torrent, 
six thousand feet below us. Directly opposite the over- 
hanging ledge on which wc stood was a mountain, the 
sloping base of which was ashy gray and bluish; it rose 
in a scries of terraces to a thousand-feet wall of dark red 
sandstone, receding upward, with ranges of columns and 
many fantastic sculptures, to a finial row of gigantic 
opera-glasses six thousand feet above the river. The 
great San Francisco Mountain, with its snowy crater, 
which we had passed on the way, might have been set 
down in the place of this one, and it would have been 
only one in a multitude of such forms that met the eye 
whichever way we looked. Indeed, all the vast moun- 
tains in this region might be hidden in this canyon. 

" Wandering a little away from the group and out of 
sight, and turning suddenl}- to the scene from another 
point of view, I experienced for a moment an indescrib- 
able terror of nature, a confusion of mind, a fear to be 
alone in such a presence. With all this grotesqueness and 
majesty of form and radiance of color, creation seemed in 
a whirl. With our education in scenery of a totally differ- 
ent kind, I suppose it would need long acquaintance with 
this to familiarize one with it to the extent of perfect 
mental comprehension." — Charles Dudley Warner. 

" Suddenly the awful majesty of the Grand Canyon is 
revealed to his startled vision. There before him lies the 
mighty red rift in the earth, the most stupendous gorge 
within the knowledge of man. The mind is spellbound 
by the spectacle; the voice is silent; the heart is sub- 
dued; the soul turns in profound reverence to the Al- 
mighty, whose handiwork is here seen on a colossal scale. 
No matter how^ many descriptions of the Grand Canyon 
may have been previously read by him who sees it for 



THE GRAND CANYON j^ 

the first time, its profound depths, its colossal heights, its 
myriad and matchless colors, its brilliant hues, its striking 
lights and shades, its mighty sinuosities, and its altogether 
grand ensemble will fill the beholder with a mingled sense 
of awe, wonder, admiration, and reverence. 

" I can well believe that the river took its name, Colo- 
rado (red) from the prevailing hue of its walls, rather 
than from the color of the water, which is not red.^ 

" Here is a mighty opening in the earth, whose capacity 
in cubic feet must be measured by some mathematician 
not yet born upon the earth, for the man does not live 
who can make the figures. Imagine, if you can, all the 
armies of all the nations of the earth, marching in solid 
columns from opposite sides of this appalling gorge to 
meet each other in battle array, unconscious of the ex- 
istence of this spot until too late to save themselves from 
being swallowed up in its abysmal depths; imagine all 
these vast bodies of men, with all the guns, all the horses, 
— infantry, cavalry, artillery, sappers, miners, and pon- 
toniers, — all the transportation trains, and all the impedi- 
menta of an army, together with all the buildings of all 
the cities of the world, — imagine all this vast aggrega- 
tion of men and material thrown into this immeasurable 
abyss, and the Grand Canyon would still remain unfilled 
for its entire length, and the Colorado River would con- 
tinue to flow unintercepted on its reckless course to the 
sea. In its measureless, cruel, insatiable maw all would 
be swallowed up." — HARRISON Gray Otis. 

" The first impression is awful (in the true sense of the 
word). The party seemed to be standing in mid-air, while 
below, the dark depths were lost in blackness and mystery. 
They were within a few feet of what seemed to be a great 
bottomless pit. In the distance rocky peaks could be 
seen rising out of the vast nowhere. Several of the party 

^ It is not a brilliant red, but it certainly is generally of a reddish 
tinge, owing to its being surcharged with so large a quantity of oxy- 
dized sandstone mud. — Note by the Autlior. 



78 



IN AND AROUND 



were convinced that the wind shook the overhanging rock 
on which they stood, and consequently all of them beat a 
hasty retreat. 

" The next morning a very different scene met the eyes 
of the early risers. Instead of blackness there were beauty 
and color of which they had hardly dreamed. The Canyon, 
at all times majestic and dreamy, spread forth so many 




Copyright by George Wharton James. 

TiiK Three Castles, overlooking the Old Trail. 

hues of purple, red, and yellow softly blended together, 
that a new feeling of awe swept over the gazers, and they 
stood speechless. It would almost seem that Nature had 
accidentally dropped an armful of rainbows, and being so 
well pleased with the effect, had left them there, to charm 
our mortal eyes." — PAULINE CURRAN. 

To see women btirst into tears and in a tremble 
of ecstatic fear is a common sight. And to men 
and women alike impressions of that first glimpse 
often follow them into the realms of sleep. One 



THE GRAND CANYON 79 

lady confessed that "it haunted her in her dreams, 
and it was only by a fortunate awakening that 
she escaped going over a twenty-five hundred foot 
precipice during the night — in her dream." 
Another visitor wrote : — 

" There was nothing in the topography of the country, 
or the general surroundings, to indicate that we were within 
miles of Nature's greatest of wonders, until all of a sudden 
the low-browed forest of cedars vanished from our sight ; 
the stage came suddenly to a halt within six or eight feet 
of a yawning depth two thousand or more feet to its bot- 
tom, and such a panorama as was presented to our view, 
words cannot describe. Fatigue and gloom were forgot- 
ten ; the fury of the storm and the merciless beating of the 
rain were unheeded, and there we sat and gazed awe- 
stricken, speechless, at the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. 
What emotions fill the soul ; what thoughts crowd the 
mind, as the eye conveys its first impress of this most 
marvellous of all wonders to the brain ! One's powers of 
articulation are paralyzed. Speech would be useless and 
language a mockery to attempt to describe one's emotions. 
They may, and even in some stout hearts often do, find vent 
in tears, but after the first ejaculation of surprised delight 
and admiration, seldom, or never, in words." 

Far more instantaneously than the fairy transfor- 
mation scenes in a pantomime emerge from the stage 
darkness the great view is unrolled. In this regard 
the approach to the Canyon by Bass Camp is im- 
measurably superior to any other. It is dramatic, 
awe-inspiring, overpowering. There is no waiting, 
no walking from hotel to rim. Instantly — more 
like magic than reality — the scene, which is magi- 
cal, mystical, ideal, and yet supremely natural, is in 
full view. 



8o IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER IX 

WHAT DOES ONE SEE? 

BUT what is it the spectator really sees that 
produces such impressions as those recorded 
above ? 

An easy question to ask, but far from easy to an- 
swer. There are so many factors to the sum of 
emotions, so many diverse powers working upon 
the more diverse minds of the diverse seers. Let 
some of them speak for themselves. 

" No poet's tale of joy or sorrow, love or death, casts its 
witchery over the picture; these silent mountain peaks 
and deep, impenetrable canyons are associated with no 
heroic action, no sublime despair. The Canyon stands out 
before you in its simple majesty; its wonderful beauty, 
vast dimensions, and untold ancientness appealing" only to 
your aesthetic sense. All the colors of the rainbow combine 
to make a panoramic picture, fift\' miles long, of vast 
forms, in which all known styles of human architecture 
are blended in profuse and chaotic magnificence, — Ionic, 
Corinthian, and Doric pillars, a wilderness of pyramids, 
towers, and temples, pinnacles, spires, domes, and Egyp- 
tian obelisks — a chaos of rock in all conceivable shapes. 

" Its chaotic immensity utterly bewilders the seiises, 
and fills the soul to overflowing with awe and admiration 
for the marvellous achievements of the God of nature. Its 
matchless sublimity, divine grandeur, infinite beauty, are 
far beyond the comprehension of the finite mind. Man's 




o 



THE GRAND CANYON 8i 

capacities are too limited to fully grasp and appreciate 
what is here unveiled. The man of letters is appalled as 
he gazes down into its depths. The artist relapses into 
despair as he views the numberless cliffs, pinnacles, spires, 
domes, obelisks, pagodas, and measureless amphitheatres, 
with all their wealth of coloring, the secret of whose blend- 




DuTTON Point and Masonic Temple from the Grand 
Scenic Divide. 



ing is known only to the Creator. The geologist is amazed 
and delighted as he contemplates his surroundings, and he 
sees how the Stone Book of Nature has been opened for 
his delectation. 

" Never before has he been permitted to gaze on so 
much of the physical geology of the earth at one glance. 
Nowhere else can he find such an elaborate and exhaust- 
ive treatise on dynamics as in the Grand Canyon of the 
Colorado. More than six thousand feet of sedimentary 

6 



82 IN AND AROUND 

formations are plainly visible at a single glance, represent- 
ing periods of geological time that utterly defy mathemat- 
ical calculation or human conception." — J. C. Martin. 

"An inferno, swathed in soft celestial fires; a whole 
chaotic under-world, just emptied of primeval floods and 
waiting for a new creative word ; a boding, terrible thing, 
unflinchingly real, yet spectral as a dream, eluding all 
sense of perspective or dimension, outstretching the faculty 
of measurement, overlapping the confines of definite ap- 
prehension. The beholder is at first unimpressed by any 
detail ; he is overwhelmed by the ensemble of a stupendous 
panorama, a thousand square miles in extent, that lies 
wholly beneath the eye, as if he stood upon a mountain 
peak instead of the level brink of a fearful chasm in the 
plateau whose opposite shore is thirteen miles away. A 
labyrinth of huge architectural forms, endlessly varied in 
design, fretted with ornamental devices, festooned with 
lace-like webs formed of talus from the upper clifts, and 
painted with every color known to the palette in pure 
transparent tones of marvellous delicacy. Never was a 
picture more harmonious, never flower more exquisitely 
beautiful. It flashes instant communication of all that 
architecture, and painting, and music for a thousand years 
have gropingly striven to express. It is the soul of Michael 
Angelo and of Beethoven. 

" That river channel, the profoundest depth, and actually 
more than six thousand feet below the point of view, is in 
seeming a rather insignificant trench, attracting the eye 
more by reason of its sombre tone and mysterious sugges- 
tion than by any appreciable characteristic of a chasm. It 
is nearly five miles distant in a straight line, and its upper- 
most rims are three thousand feet beneath the observer, 
whose measuring capacity is entirely inadequate to the 
demand made by such magnitudes. One cannot believe 
the distance to be more than a mile as the crow flies, 
before descending the wall or attempting some other form 



THE GRAND CANYON 



83 



of actual measLii-ement. Merc brain knowledge counts for 
little against the illusion under which the organ of vision 
is here doomed to labor. That red cliff upon your right, 
darkening from white to gray, yellow and brown as your 
glance descends, is taller than the Washington Monument. 
The Auditorium in Cliicago would not cover one-half its 




tk -""":?!_'- "Lit 

Co/ijri^/it, li^<)S, in Olut> l^ippiiuoit 

KoHONixo Forest and Point from near Comanche Point. 

perpendicular span. Yet it does not greatly impress you. 
You idly toss a pebble toward it, and are surprised to note 
how far the missile falls short. Subsequently you learn 
that the cliff is a good half-mile distant. If you care for 
an abiding sense of its true proportions, go over to the 
trail that begins beside its summit, and clamber down to 
its base and back. You will return some hours later, and 
with a decided respect for a small Grand Canyon cliff. 
Relatively it is insignificant ; in that sense your first esti- 
mate was correct. Were Vulcan to cast it bodily into the 
chasm directly beneath your feet, it would pass for a 



84 IN AND AROUND 

boulder, if indeed it were discoverable to the unaided eye. 
Yet the immediate chasm itself is only the first step of a 
long terrace that leads down to the innermost gorge and 
the river. Roll a heavy stone to the rim and let it go. It 
falls sheer the height of a church or an Eiffel Tower, ac- 
cording to your position, and explodes like a bomb on a 
projecting ledge. If, haply, any considerable fragments 
remain, they bound onward like elastic balls, leaping in 
wild parabola from point to point, snapping trees like 
straws, bursting, crashing, thundering down until they 
make a last plunge over the brink of a void, and then there 
comes languidly up the cliff sides a faint, distant roar, and 
your boulder that had withstood the buffets of centuries, 
lies scattered as wide as VVycliffe's ashes, although the 
final fragment has lodged only a little way, so to speak, 
below the rim." — C. A. HiGGiNS. 

" Here are great mansions, built high and secure upon 
rock-walled spaces ; more temples of the Greek, the Roman, 
the Egyptian ; more modern churches ; more villages ; 
more turret-crowned castles ; gigantic esplanades upon 
which might be manceuvred the armies of the world's most 
powerful nations; beetling cliffs that tower up to the blue 
horizon and bathe their feet in the murk)' river; great 
dumps of disintegrated rock like waste from mammoth 
mines; piles of material stacked up ready to build a hun- 
dred Londons ; great palisades that in comparison make 
the palisades of the Hudson as but a baby's finger mark 
on the wall. All these one sees and notes as the shadows 
lengthen from the mountain which sits enwalled in the 
canyon below him." — UNKNOWN. 

" The Grand Canyon of the Colorado is a great innova- 
tion in modern ideas of scenery, and in our conceptions of 
the grandeur, beauty, and power of nature. As with all 
great innovations, it is not to be comprehended in a day or 
a week, nor even in a month. It must be dwelt upon and 
studied, and the study must comprise the slow acquisition 



THE GRAND CANYON 85 

of the meaning and spirit of that marvellous scenery which 
characterizes the Plateau country, and of which the great 
chasm is the superlative manifestation. The study and 
slow mastery of the influences of that class of scenery and 
its full appreciation is a special culture, requiring time, 
l)atience, and long familiarity for its consummation. The 
lover of nature, whose perceptions have been trained in 
the Alps, in Italy, Germany, or New England, in the 
Appalachians or Cordilleras, in Scotland or Colorado, 
would enter this strange region with a shock, and dwell 
there for a time with a sense of oppression, and perhaps with 
horror. Whatsoever things he had learned to regard as 
beautiful and noble he would seldom or never see, and 
whatsoever he might see would appear to him as any- 
thing but beautiful and noble. Whatsoever might be 
bold and striking would at first seem only grotesque. 
The colors would be the very ones he had learned to shun 
as tawdry and bizarre. The tones and shades, modest and 
tender, subdued yet rich, in which his fancy had always 
taken special' delight, would be the ones which are con- 
spicuously absent. But time would bring a gradual change. 
Some day he would suddenly become conscious that out- 
lines which at first seemed harsh and trivial have grace 
and meaning ; that forms which seemed grotesque are full 
of dignity ; that magnitudes which had added enormit)' to 
coarseness have become replete with strength and even 
majesty; that colors which had been esteemed unrefined, 
immodest, and glaring, are as expressive, tender, changeful, 
and capacious of effects as any others. Great innovations, 
whether in art or literature, in science or in nature, seldom 
take the world by storm. They must be understood before 
they can be estimated, and must be cultivated before they 
can be understood. 

"It is so with the Grand Canyon. The observer who 
visits its commanding points with the expectation of ex- 
periencing forthwith a rapturous exaltation, an ecstasy 
arising from the realization of a degree of grandeur and 



86 IN AND AROUND 

sublimity never felt before, is doomed to disappointment. 
Supposing him to be but little familiar with plateau 
scenery, he will be simply bewildered. Must he therefore 
pronounce it a failure, an overpraised thing? Must he 
entertain a just resentment towards those who may have 
raised his expectations too high? The answer is, that sub- 
jects which disclose their full power, meaning, and beauty 
as soon as they are presented to the mind have very little 
of those qualities to disclose. Moreover a visitor to the 
chasm or to any other famous scene must necessarily come 
there (for so is the human mind constituted) with a picture 
of it created by his own imagination. He reaches the spot, 
the conjured picture vanishes in an instant, and the place 
of it must be filled ane\v. Surely no imagination can con- 
struct out of its own material any picture having the 
remotest resemblance to the Grand Canyon. In truth, the 
first step in attempting a description is to beg the reader 
to dismiss from his mind, so far as practicable, any precon- 
ceived notion of it." — C. A. Button. 




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THE GRAND CANYON 87 



CHAPTER X 

ON THE RIM 

a. The View from Comanche (Bissell), Ute 

(Moran), and Paiuti (Grand View) Points. 

b. Hopi Point. 

c. Surprise Outlook — Bass Camp. 

d. Eastern Outlook from Havasupai Point. 

e. Western Outlook from Wallapai Point. 

f. Pillars of Erosion. 
Z. Various Impressions. 

a. The View from Comanche (Bissell), Ute 
(Moran), and Paiuti (Grand View) Points 

THESE are the three chief points of the canyon 
region originally reached by stage from Flag- 
staff. While there are slight differences in the out- 
looks from these points, the general effect is much 
the same. In one distinctive feature the views pre- 
sented from these three points surpass any that may 
be seen elsewhere. This is in the apparent /r^2/.f26>;2 
and close proximity of the great buttes and temples 
that fill up so much of the space on the north side 
of the river. Vishnu Temple, — the greatest piece 
of sculpture in the Canyon, — Newberry Terrace^ 
Solomon Throne, Shinto Temple, and several others, 
are in close and full view, and make a marvellous 



88 IN AND AROUND 

spectacle. I shall not attempt any lengthened or 
detailed description of the Canyon at these points, 
as, in all general features the Eastern Outlook from 
Havasupai Point covers all that the visitor sees here. 

The massive temple that ever forces itself upon 
the vision, whether on the Red Canyon, the Old, 
the Grand View, or the Bright Angel Trails, is 
Vishnu Temple, and the detached portion of the 
great Kaibab Plateau slightly to the west has been 
named Newberry Terrace, from the great geologist 
who first propounded the theory that water and the 
uplift of the continent accounted for the existence 
of the Canyon, 

It has so often been claimed that Point Sublime 
is opposite the Flagstaff-reached camps that it will 
be a surprise to many who have visited the Canyon 
at these points to learn that they have been misin- 
formed. The point seen is Cape Final ; the Point 
Sublime of Captain Dutton being some forty miles 
farther west. 

Opposite the Hance Camp the three rock masses 
on the left of the Canyon down which the Old Trail 
reached the river have been named the "Three 
Castles," and the towerino- mountain to the ri2:ht 
has long borne the name Ayer Peak, in honor of 
Mrs. E. E. Ayer, of Chicago, who was the first 
white woman to descend the Canyon at this point. 

From all these three Points a wonderful portion 
of the beginning of the Grand Canyon is seen, as 
one looks eastward towards the o;reat wall which 
denotes the entrance of the Little Colorado. 

" This first section of the Grand Canyon, from the Little 
Colorado to the beginning of the Granite Gorge, some 



THE GRAND CANYON 89 

eighteen miles in distance, is one of great interest. The 
whole section seems to have been upturned, tumbled ov^er, 
and mixed in every imaginable shape, some of the oldest 
and newest formations standing side by side, showing 
most gorgeous coloring of mineralized matter, from dark 
purple and green to bright red and yellow. The river 
runs through quite a wide valley, with bottom lands and 
groves of mesquite. The top walls of the Canyon are 
miles and miles apart, and hills and knobs rise between 
the river and the walls beyond, these being separated by 
deep washes and gulches running in every direction." — 
R. B. Stanton. 

From Comanche (Bissell) Point a wonderful view 
is had — down the river — of the Inner Gorge. 
The distance is about seventeen miles, and the 
length of the river exposed is nearly three miles, — 
a strip of glistening dirty brown in the depths of 
the dark and forbidding granite. 

{b) Hopi Point 

The chief points of observ-ation on the rim near 
the Bright Angel Hotel are, to the east, O'Neill 
and Cremation Points, and to the west, Maricopa, 
Hopi, and Cyclorama Points. All these are well 
worth a visit. The eastern views are practically 
the same as those already described, but the Qreneral 
outlook from Hopi Point requires more detailed 
description. 

Standing on Hopi Point, one naturally looks 
first of all for the river. It is clearly discernible 
in five places. Looking eastward, short stretches 
both east and west of Pluto Pyramid are exposed. 
To the west of Mahomet Temple is a small peep- 



90 



IN AND AROUND 



ing eye of river, which seems as if it could be 
covered with one's handkerchief. This is " the 
E^'e of the Colorado." Another small stretch is 
seen at the end of Cyclorama Point, and then, 
beyond the end of Cope Plateau a view is obtained 
of at least three miles of the muddy, turbulent 
waters of this maddest of all mad rivers. 

Now pick out all the buttes and temples de- 
scribed in the chapter on the Bright Angel Trail, 
and the points east and west that force themselves 
upon the attention. Eastward are Pima, O'Neill, 
Yaki, Comanche, and far away Navaho. Across 
the river are Vishnu Temple and Newberry Ter- 
race. Standinor between these orreat structures and 
ourselves are the buttes that make up the interest- 
ine Aneel Gate, which I so named on account of 
the following legend. 

In an earlier chapter reference has been made to 
the mythology of one of the Paiuti tribes, which 
accounts for the creation of the great gorge. Some 
day the gods — Those Above — will return to the 
earth, and " Angel Gate " is to be their place of 
descent from the " shadow world above " to the 
"world of the here" below. This "gate" may be 
seen from several of the trails and outlook points 
on the rim, and the following is the story the 
Indians tell about it. While their ancestors settled 
in these regions under the direct guidance of 
" Those Above," they ever believed and taught 
their descendants that some day, some time, the 
sods would return to the earth and lead them into 
a far more beautiful, fertile, and better watered 
land, where seeds, fruits, flowers, vegetables, roots. 




Q W 



PQ 



> 



go 

w 



THE GRAND CANYON 91 

trees, and game of every kind would abound, and 
where the Indians would find an earthly home, a 
fit foretaste of their spirit home. But the gods 
told no one exactly when this visit to the earth 
was to be made, so it has been the duty of cer- 
tain Shamans, or medicine men, on given days of 
the year to watch for their coming. And it is 
through this gateway they will come. So the 
Indians call it " The Entrance or Gateway of the 
People of the Shadows," and the priests sit where 
they can watch " Angel Gate " from the rising to 
the setting of the sun, that they may be ready to 
warn their people when Those Above come to lead 
them from their present homes of poverty, toil, and 
ceaseless struggle to their new and blessed homes 
of plenty, comfort, and rest. 

Just beyond Yaki Point, where the Battleship 
Oregon stands, carved in imperishable stone, in the 
heart of the Canyon, is a long terrace of the red 
sandstone with a sharp, detached butte at the north 
end. This is Gilbert Terrace, so named after the 
accomplished geologist who, when with the Wheeler 
Survey, made the ascent of the Colorado in its very 
jaws up as far as Diamond Creek. The record of 
this trip is practically unknown, but it is as fascinat- 
ing a chapter as any in American exploring annals. 

The Battleship Iowa is also clearly seen from 
here, and, below it is a small red sandstone plateau 
named Marsh Plateau, in honor of the great paleon- 
tologist ; and as a similar plateau is found at the 
extremity of Cyclorama Point, it has been named 
Cope Plateau, after his great rival in the paleonto- 
logical field. 



92 IN AND AROUND 

If the atmosphere is in a suitable condition, 
Manu Temple is clearly defined against the wall 
of the Kaibab Plateau, here known as the Haunted 
Mesa, where Phantom Creek has its rise. 

To the north and west of Shiva Temple is 
a massive square rock-pile which I have named 
Holmes Tower, after that most genial and accom- 
plished scientist in so many branches, Mr. W. H. 
Holmes. Geology not only owes him much for 
his charming drawings, which embellish Captain 
Dutton's canyon report, but archaeology and eth- 
nology are his great debtors, as a cursory survey of 
the reports of the Bureau of Ethnology will reveal. 
And it seemed most appropriate that one of the 
great canyon monuments, which stood almost under 
his eyes as he sat on Point Sublime making his 
inimitable drawings, should receive his name. 

West of Confucius Temple is another great 
butte which is named Becker Butte, and between 
this and Holmes Tower, at the western extension 
of Shiva Temple, is Russell Butte, so named after 
the geologist who traced the beaches of the pre- 
historic Lake Lahontan. Beyond Russell Butte, 
and almost due west of Becker, is a square red 
tower which is named Gannett Tower, after the 
man whose topographical work has made world- 
famed the maps of the United States Geological 
Survey. 

Away off in the direction of Havasupai Point 
(which seems to reach almost across the river to 
Dutton Point), in the heart of the Canyon, north 
of Geikie Monument, is a small square structure in 
the lower part of the red wall limestone, which is 



THE GRAND CANYON 93 

so like the pictures shown of the prehistoric tem- 
ples of Yucatan that it is named Yucatan Temple. 



(c) Surprise Outlook — Bass Camp 

At Bass Camp there are three especial views 
afforded, which give the intelligent visitor a clearer 
comprehension of the Canyon in all its aspects than 
can be obtained, according to my judgment, in any 
other way. These three are the " Surprise Out- 
look," the " Eastern View " of the Canyon from 
Havasupai Point, and the " Western View " from 
Wallapai Point. 

The first view encountered by the visitor to Bass 
Camp is that which is presented as the stage, with- 
out warning, halts immediately on the edge of the 
Canyon, close to the head of Mystic Spring Trail, — 
hence its name, " Surprise Outlook." Here, after 
the first impression — which is always of the Can- 
yon's vastness — has somewhat subsided, the eye 
instinctively seeks the important point on the op- 
posite side, which has already been referred to as 
Dutton Point. This is the "Point Sublime" of 
our stage ride ; the great promontory that rises 
over half a thousand feet above every other canyon 
point within our ken, as, forty miles away, we ap- 
proach the great gorge. It is the extreme eastern 
end of Powell Plateau. 

Almost immediately opposite Bass Camp, slightly 
to the left, and directly in the heart of the Canyon, 
is Mount Observation, a solitary, lone, rocky giant 
of cross-bedded sandstone, topped with a small resi- 
due of cherty limestone. From where we stand at 



94 



IN AND AROUND 



niofht we can look out and see the moon shed its 
silver brilliancy over the massive white walls, which 
gained the mountain its name from the Indians, 
— Hue-tha-wa-li, — White Mountain. It is one of 
the most impressive specimens of the result of the 




Eastern End of Mount Orskrvation. 



erosive and disintegrating^ processes of nature to 
be seen in this region. Its talus has more slope 
than the generality of the cliffs, and this makes the 
approach to it fairly easy. It seems as if you might 
throw a stone to it from where we stand on the 
rim of the Canyon, and it is one of the first lessons 
in distance that many a tourist will eventually take, 
to find out how far away it really is. 

The next features that attract our attention are 



THE GRAND CANYON 95 

the three central, interior plateaux, which, two 
thousand feet below the rim, thrust their noses far 
out from the south wall until they seem to be im- 
mediately over the Inner Gorge, where the Colorado 
River flows in sullen majesty through the granite. 
The plateau which connects the south wall with 
these interior plateaux is named Le Conte Plateau. 
These are all in the red sandstone. The upper 
stratum — the deep chocolate — has entirely disap- 
peared except at each end of Hue-tha-wa-li. The 
plateau to the west, which is partially hidden by 
Hue-tha-wa-li, is the Mystic Spring Plateau, so 
named from a small medicinal spring long known 
to the Havasupai Indians and used by them. It 
oozes apparently through the red sandstone into a 
rocky basin on the edge of the western precipice. 

The central plateau, and, from where we stand, 
the most striking one, is named after Hue-tha-wa-li 
(Mount Observation), Hue-tha-wa-li or Observation 
Plateau, as this mountain stands close upon its 
point of junction with Le Conte Plateau. At its 
end is an eroded mass of red sandstone, clearly 
defined and distinct, to which the name has been 
given of Murchison Butte. Still nearer the end, 
and belonging to the red limestone or marble wall, 
is a pagoda, modest in size and appearance, from 
here, but which would make miniature the largest 
creations of the architects of Hindoostan. It is 
called The Temple of Om. 

The easternmost of the three plateaux has been 
most appropriately named by Mr. Bass the Grand 
Scenic Divide, for here, geologically as well as 
scenically, the character of the Canyon undergoes 



96 



IN AND AROUND 



material chang^e. At its end is a small eroded 
needle of red sandstone, which, however, to those 
who have climbed to its base, is an imposing 
obelisk, larger and more massive than the Washing- 
ton Monument. This is Dick Pillar, so named in 

honor of the in- 
defatigable Rob- 
ert Dick of 
Thurso, Scotland, 
-whose labors in 
the old red sand- 
stone added so 
much to the geo- 
logical knowledge 
of his and our 
times. 

These plateaux 
vary in width from 
a quarter of a mile 
to over a mile 
wide; they are 
dotted with what 
seem, from here, 
to be patches of 
grass, but which 
are juniper and pinion trees from ten to forty feet 
in height. Each plateau broadens out towards its 
base by a series of steps, clearly marking the strati- 
fication of the red sandstone down to the so-called 
red wall limestone, which is a sheer wall from seven 
hundred to one thousand feet high. 

To form a good idea of the arrangement of these 
radiating plateaux, imagine Le Conte Plateau to be 




Dick Pillar at the End of Grand 
Scenic Divide. 



THE GRAND CANYON 97 

the wrist of a giant hand with but three fingers. 
The Grand Scenic Divide is the easternmost finger, 
Trail Canyon (down which the Mystic Spring Trail 
continues to the river) is the space between the first 
and middle fingers, Hue-tha-wa-li or Observation 
Plateau the middle finger, and Mystic Spring 
Plateau the finger to the west, while Copper Canyon 
divides these two westernmost fingers. On the 
edge of Le Conte Plateau, like a great wart between 
the knuckles of these fingers, is Mount Observa- 
tion, Hue-tha-wa-li. 

Hue-tha-vva-li is a mountain between five thou- 
sand and six thousand feet high, — almost as high 
as Mount Lowe, above Pasadena, California, or 
Mount Washington in New England, — having its 
base washed by the Colorado River, and yet it is 
merely a feature in the vast scene between the 
rocky banks of that river. It is oval in shape, and 
when first seen by dim moonlight gives color to the 
imagination, which sees in it a wrecked vessel, dis- 
masted and storm-beaten, cast high upon these in- 
hospitable rocks, and there petrified and doomed to 
remain forever. 

By this time the great mural face stretching west- 
ward from Dutton Point has successfully enchained 
the attention. Its dominant color is red, though 
it is crowned with the deep green of tall pines, 
many of which have dropped over the edge and 
planted themselves in the talus of the upper gray 
limestones and sandstones, especially towards the 
point. As we are in the curve of a receding amphi- 
theatre, the wall across is fully ten or twelve miles 
away, while farther walls to the right are fifteen to 

7 



98 IN AND AROUND 

seventeen miles. Try to realize a wall nearly a 
mile hiq;h and twelve miles distant, anoled and 
recessed, the line of its summit almost even on the 
horizon, though curving towards us to the left, but 
whose mural front zigzags and curves, protrudes and 
retreats, until it is obscured by the irregularities of an 
obtrusive point belonging to this side of the Canyon. 
To the left of Dutton Point a "hump" in the surface 
of the wall is seen, and this we call Powell Arch. 

Immediately below Dutton Point, to the left, is a 
great square recess, formed by the red marble wall 
which faces us, an anovular extension of the lower 
wall of the point, and an eastern wall, which shoots 
out at right angles, completing a striking square 
temple, closed on three sides and opened towards the 
southwest. Its being " on the square " suggested 
the name " the Masonic Temple." Another larger 
but somewhat similar three-sided temple, in the red 
marble, and at the same elevation, at the eastern 
extremity of Dutton Point, with elaborate extended 
side walls, was called the " Temple of the Rising 
Sun," for it receives the first rays of the August 
sun as they dart over the eastern walls of the 
Canyon. It is easy for the imagination to picture 
the souls of devout Parsees standing here, as at 
Bombay and elsewhere, greeting the rising of the 
morning luminary with all the adoration worthy so 
powerful and benignant a deity. 

Following the wall of Powell Plateau westward, it 
terminates, or seems to do so, in two points, — a 
sharp one to the extreme west, and a more blunt 
one nearer this way. The sharp point is called Ives 
Point, and the eastern one Beale Point. 



THE GRAND CANYON 99 

A little to the west of Masonic Temple, also, will 
be observed a somewhat straggling offshoot from 
the upper red wall terminating in a butte. This is 
Clarence Wall and King Butte, so named to con- 
nect them with the name and labors of Clarence 
King. 

The farther walls to the right of Button Point, 
and which extend as far as we can see to tlie east- 
ward, are not so striking in the facial characteristics 
of the upper thousand feet as they are lower down. 
There has been a more decided invasion here of 
verdure from the densely clothed Kaibab Plateau 
on the north, and the trees have robbed the walls of 
that purely rocky character which elsewhere they 
possess almost exclusively. The change is a delight- 
ful one, for the most avaricious rock-lover cannot 
complain of any lack of his chosen material. This 
part of the wall is less regular than the wall of 
Powell- Plateau. It is deeply recessed by alcoves 
and amphitheatres, in the front of which are detached 
masses or buttes, square towers, and meandering 
walls that give additional character, dignity, and 
impressiveness to the scene. The most imposing of 
these detached towers is a square ponderous mass, 
rising from the greenish gray terraces of the sand- 
stone, first, in a leap upwards of nearly one thousand 
feet of red wall limestone or marble, then in a 
series of red sandstone terraces, and finally, in an 
even though steep slope of deepest crimson, fringed 
with green, to the summit, upon which is placed what 
seems to be a short but perfectly circular memorial 
shaft. Its upper portion is made of the gray and 
the lower of the rich crimson sandstone. Many 

L of C. 



lOO 



IN AND AROUND 



years ago the first white lady to descend the Canyon 
at this point named this " Bass Tomb," and I see 
no reason to reject the name, for in sight of it Mr. 
Bass's most arduous labors have been spent, and 
here it is appropriate he should have his immortal 
memorial. There is a private chapel attached to 




In Trail Canyon, looking across to Bass Tomb and 
Dox Castle. 



the marble base of the tomb, caused by walls of 
marble partially enclosing it. The open space faces 
us. This is " Memorial Chapel." 

Immediately to the right of the right wall of 
Memorial Chapel, and about midway between Bass 
Tomb and the end of Grand Scenic Divide, is a 
massive structure of rich dark red and brownish 
rock, dwarfed materially by Bass Tomb, which bears 
the name Dox Castle, in honor of Miss Virginia 



THE GRAND CANYON loi 

Dox, the pioneer lady visitor to the interior of the 
Canyon at this point. 

SHghtly to the rear and right of Bass Tomb is 
another pyramidal structure, less in size, and with- 
out the crowning column of that majestic pile. At 
times it is impossible to distinguish it as a structure 
distinct and separate from the main wall, but, dur- 
ing" a fog, or when the clouds act as reflectors of the 
sunshine behind it, and yet clothe it in shade, its 
personality and individuality are clearly discernible. 
I have named it Shaler Pyramid. Its summit is 
oval. 

Immediately between us and Bass Tomb are the 
Tilts, the upthrust of the archaean rocks having 
tilted the strata backwards towards the north wall. 
They are of a dark iron gray shade, varying towards 
reddish black, and add a more gloomy aspect to the 
lowest deeps. 

To the left and slightly above the Tilts are the 
Crimson Ridges and the Gray Ridges, both, as 
their respective names imply, being ridges of color 
showing out clearly and distinctly above the archccan 
rocks. At the foot of these ridges a line like a 
small black gash may be seen. This is the Canyon 
of the Shinumo, down which flows a goodly stream 
of water, and which is deemed worthy a later chapter 
in this volume. 

One other striking feature presents itself on the 
opposite wall, and that is a winding, twisting canyon, 
its outer walls set in the air, its inner walls enclosing 
— what, I know not. But so tortuous a canyon 
immediately recalls the Constellation of Draco, 
the Dragon, so we name it the Canyon of tlie 



I02 



IN AND AROUND 



Dragon. On the nearer of the two walls of this 
canyon, at the far-away eastern end, is a butte, which 
we name Dragon Castle. 

Immediately to our right and east of the Grand 
Scenic Divide is Fossil Mountain, a great peak of 

the cherty limestone, 
b e 1 o n o- i n o- to the 
south wall, in which 
large numbers of 
fossils have been 
found. This is glo- 
riously covered with 
fair-sized bushy 
junipers and pinions, 
and the deep green 
of the trees and the 
gray of the stone add 
additional charm to 
the striking reds 
lower down. 

The curious visitor, 
who hovers long, will 
see many other fea- 
tures than those here described. There has been 
no attempt at elaborateness or completeness of 
detail. Merely enough is presented to enable the 
visitor to recognize the salient objects. 

No careful observer, however, can fail to notice 
that here nature has not followed her usual curving 
lines of beauty. The striking features of this view 
are not curves and circles, but squares and angles. 
The Masonic Temple, Memorial Temple, Temple 
of the Rising Sun, Bass Tomb, Shaler Pyramid, are 
all more or less angular. 




Copyright, 1899, by F. H. Maude. 

Fossil Mouxtaix. 



THE GRAND CANYON 103 

This portion of the Canyon being ahiiost due east 
and west, presents also shifting Hghts and shades, 
peculiar search-light effects, morning and evening, 
and glories of coloring that are not everywhere 
observable. 



{d) Eastern Outlook from Havasupai Point 

This, to my mind, of all the Canyon views from the 
south rim, is the most comprehensive and sublime. 

After carefully going over the rim again from 
Mystic Spring Trail to Hance Camp, I am con- 
vinced that Havasupai Point is the Sentinel Point 
referred to in " Harpers Magazine" as follows: — 

" It is not easy, where every outlook is sublime, to select 
a single point upon the canyon's brink of which you can 
say, this is, after all, the best. Altogether, it has seemed 
to me that of all the places which I have visited on either 
side of the river the one which is most impressive is a long 
high spur, forest-clad at the base and bare at the end, on 
the south side, about forty miles below Hance Camp. 
This looms far out over the deeps between two mighty 
gulfs, and commands a stretch of many miles of the broad- 
est and profoundest sections of the Grand Canyon." — - 
T. Mitchell Prudden. 

Recent correspondence with Dr. Prudden con- 
firms this location as Havasupai Point. It is the 
point long ago chosen by Mr. Bass, and that, for 
years, I have advocated as the one affording the 
grandest of all canyon outlooks, and it is gratifying 
to have so observant and educated a western traveller 
as Dr. Prudden independently confirm the results 
of our observations. 



I04 IN AND AROUND 

It is the only point on the south wall of the 
Canyon from Navaho Point on the east, to the Great 
Bend beyond Cardenas Aisle, sixty-five miles west, 
that protrudes far enough into the heart of the 
Canyon to afford practically a perfect and complete 




Cotynght, JS'J9, by F. H. Maude. 

Darwin Wall — Evolution Amphitheatre. 

view of both walls of the Canyon at the same time. 
It is but little farther from the end of Havasupai 
Point to the wall on the north side of the river just 
west of Point Sublime, than it is to the extreme 
curve of Evolution Amphitheatre on the south wall. 
Hence the same conditions exist here on the south 
side — and even in more marked degree — that led 
Captain Dutton to choose Point Sublime as his 
chief vantage ground on the north side. 

The vast amphitheatre to the right of Hava- 



THE GRAND CANYON 105 

supai Point, on tlie south wall, and of which that 
point is the western cusp, has been named Evolu- 
tion Amphitheatre. There are four distinct walls, 
descending in steps on the sides of this amphi- 
theatre, and these have been named in order from 
the top, — the limestone, Darwin Wall; the 
cross-bedded sandstone, Huxley Wall; the steps of 
the red sandstone, Tyndall Wall; and the red lime- 
stone or marble, Spencer Wall. 

In an angle of Evolution Amphitheatre is the 
Corner of Standing Rocks. Here erosion is at 
work, gnawing away the connecting links which 
bind huge pillars to the upper limestone wall, and, 
little by little, the process of disintegration goes on, 
so that by and by more stupendous masses will 
fall, to be shattered into dust, mashed into small 
pieces, or even continue to roll in large boulders 
down to the very river itself, which in flood time 
will whirl them along to make dangerous twisting 
waves and fountains in which men unlucky enough 
to be on the river at the time may lose their 
lives. Here may be seen columns, pyramids, peaks, 
and fantastic pillars; wonderful evidences of the 
never-ceasins^ iconoclasm of Nature. 

Reaching out from the centre of Evolution 
Amphitheatre is a great plateau somewhat similar 
to the Grand Scenic Divide. It is of the red wall 
limestone, crowned with over half a thousand feet of 
red sandstone, and this I name Drummond Plateau. 

The wall of the red limestone is called Fiske Wall, 
in honor of the able scientist, who has done so much 
to make known the work of Spencer, Darwin, 
Huxley, and Tyndall in this country. 



io6 IN AND AROUND 

To turn now to the great scene before us. Its 
expansiveness is one of the greatest of its advan- 
tages. A narrow canyon, with deep, precipitous 
walls, could never be seen so as to produce any 
other than the effect of profound depth and gloom, 
no matter what the coloring of the walls or the 
purity of the atmosphere. There must be a cor- 
responding ratio between magnitude and distance, 
and here, as nowhere else in my knowledge, are these 
factors so perfectly proportioned. 

The length of canyon revealed clearly and in 
detail from Havasupai Point is fully forty-five miles 
eastward and over twenty-five miles to the west. 
Of the latter view I shall say nothing here. The 
eastern view claims our entire attention. 

Across the Canyon, slightly to the north of east, 
is Point Sublime, the point from which Captain 
Dutton wrote his inimitable descriptions. There 
is nothing to distinguish it from other points on 
the opposite wall, except that it is well protruded 
towards the interior of the Canyon, and affords that 
comprehensive sweep of view in both directions 
that is the essential characteristic of a favorable look- 
out point. Beyond it, to the east, is a detached mass 
of the Kaibab wall, that bold and striking portion 
which appears behind Vishnu Teniple when the 
visitor looks across the Canyon from Ute ( Moran ) 
or Comanche (Bissell) Points, and which was 
named Newberry Terrace, after the distinguished 
geologist of the Ives Expedition. 

The horizon line before us is bounded by the last 
great promontory, Navaho Point, beyond Ute and 
Comanche, which, with the detached Kaibab mass 



THE GRAND CANYON 107 

last referred to, shuts out the wall of the Little Colo- 
rado River, seen from these two latter points. 
Sweeping away to the south the level wall of the 
Canyon is broken by a forest-clad rise, which acts as 
a dividing line for the waters that flow into the 
basin of Havasu Creek and Canyon and those of 
the Kohonino (Coconino) Basin. Then those ma- 
jestic volcanic piles come into view, softened and 
mellowed by the far-away distance, and in order 
lead the eye around until the close-by wall of the 
point on which we stand occupies all our gaze : 
first is the San Francisco Mountains, then Ken- 
dricks, followed by Sitgreaves and Williams, while 
Red Butte stands in the foreground exactly midway 
between the two first-named piles. 

Taking the greatest width of the space under our 
immediate view, the distance from the inner curve 
of the amphitheatre beyond Point Sublime on the 
north wall to that of Evolution Amphitheatre on 
the south wall cannot be less than twenty miles, and 
the distant wall in the east is fully forty miles away. 

" This vast space is thronged with a great multitude of 
objects so vast in size, so bold and majestic in form, so 
infinite in their details, that as the truth gradually reveals 
itself to the perceptions it arouses the strongest emotions. 
Unquestionably the overruling feature is the colossal wall 
on the opposite side of the gulf. Can mortal fancy create 
a picture of a miu'al front a mile in height, so planned as 
to create a vast amphitheatre, twenty miles wide at the 
arms and forty miles from the centre of a line attaching 
these arms to the curve of the half circle? As the mind 
strives to realize its proportions, its spirit is hroken and its 
imagination completely crushed. If the wall were simple 
in its character, if it were only blank and sheer, some rest 



io8 IN AND AROUND 

might be found in contemplating it, but it is full of di- 
versity and eloquent with grand suggestions. It is deeply 
recessed by alcoves and amphitheatres receding far into the 
plateau beyond, and usually disclosing only the portals by 
which they open into the main chasm. Between them the 
promontories jut out, ending in magnificent gables with 
sharp mitred angles. Thus the wall rambles in and out, 
turning numberless corners. Many of the angles are acute 
and descend as sharp spurs, like the forward edge of 
a ploughshare. Only those alcoves which are directly 
opposite to us can be seen in their full length and depth. 
Yet so excessive, nay so prodigious, is the effect of fore- 
shortening, that it is impossible to realize their full 
extensions. 

" At many points the profile of the facade is thrown 
into view by the change of trend, and its complex char- 
acter is fully revealed. It is a series of many ledges and 
slopes, like a moulded plinth, in which every stratum 
is disclosed as a line or a course of masonry. The red 
wall limestone is the most conspicuous member, present- 
ing its vertical face eight hundred to a thousand feet high, 
and everywhere unbroken. The thinner beds more often 
appear in the slopes as a succession of ledges projecting 
through the scanty talus, which never conceals them. 

"Numerous detached masses are also seen flanking the 
ends of the long promontories. These buttes are of gigantic 
proportions, and yet so overwhelming is the effect of the 
wall against which they are projected that they seem 
insignificant in mass, and the observer is often deluded by 
them, failing to perceive that they are really detached 
from the wall and perhaps separated from it by an inter- 
val of a mile or two. 

" At the foot of this palisade is a platform through 
which meanders the Inner Gorge, in whose dark and sombre 
depths flows the river. In six places can the water surface 
be seen. In its windings, the abyss which holds it extends 
for a short distance towards us, and the line of vision 



THE GRAND CANYON 



109 



enters the gorge lengthwise. Above and below this short 
reach the gorge swings its course in other directions, and 
reveals only a dark, narrow opening, while its nearer wall 
hides its depth. This inner chasm is one thousand to 
twelve hundred feet deep. Its upper two hundred feet is 
a vertical ledge of sandstone of a dark rich brownish 
color. Beneath it lies the gran- 
ite of a dark iron-gray shade, 
verging towards black, and lend- 
ing a gloomy aspect to the 
lowest deeps. In one place per- 
haps a half a mile of the river is 
disclosed. A pale, dirty red, 
without glimmer or sheen, a 
motionless surface, a small fea- 
tureless spot, enclosed in the 
dark shade of the granite, is all 
of it that is here visible. Yet 
we know it is a large river, a 
hundred and fifty yards wide, 
with a headlong torrent foam- 
ing and plunging over rocky 
rapids." — C. A. DuTTON. 




Copyright by F. H. Maude. 

Thor Hammer. 



A little, and only a little, 
less impressive than the 
srreat wall almost surround- 

insf us are the buttes which dot the inner surfaces 
of the Canyon in every direction the eye chances to 



" And such buttes ! All others in the West, saving only 
the peerless Temples of the Virgen, are mere trifles in 
comparison with those of the Grand Canyon. In nobility 
of form, beauty of decoration, and splendor of color, the 
Temples of the Virgen must, on the whole, be awarded 
the palm ; but those of the Grand Canyon, while barely 
inferior to them in those respects, surpass them in magni- 



no IN AND AROUND 

tude and fully equal them in majesty. But while the 
Valley of the Virgen presents a few of these superlative 
creations, the Grand Canyon presents them by dozens. 
In this relation the comparison would be analogous to one 
between a fine cathedral town and a metropolis like 
London or Paris. In truth, there is only a very limited 
ground of comparison between the two localities, for in 
style and effects their respective structures differ as de- 
cidedly as the works of any two well-developed and 
strongly contrasted styles of human architecture." — C. A. 
Button. 

The point in the centre of the great scene before 
us I have named Hopi Point. It is the one reached 
from near the head of the Briorht Anoel Trail. 

Almost midway between Shiva Temple and Hopi 
Point is a gigantic red sandstone butte, one of the 
most striking objects of the Canyon, and this I 
name Walcott Butte, in honor of the distinguished 
o-eoloQ[ist who now directs the United States Geo- 
logical Survey. 

A few miles beyond Drummond Plateau, on the 
south side of the Canyon, is a stupendous structure 
mainly composed of the red wall limestone, and 
looking something like acouchant lion, whose head, 
unfortunately, is missing. Our British cousins will 
not take it amiss, I hope, if I name this impressive 
and majestic pile Geikie Monument, in honor of 
the well-known British geologist. 

To the right, in the granite of the Inner Gorge 
immediately below us, one cannot fail to notice the 
irregular seams and scratchings of white — the 
quartz which has filtered in and filled up the deep 
scars and fissures of the ancient rock's face, and 
are now revealed as irregular ledges of white, which 



THE GRAND CANYON 1 1 i 

cross and criss-cross the black and rusty brown 
of the granites. 

(e) Western Outlook from Wallapai Point 

A few hundred feet west of Bass Camp is the 
eastern cusp of one of the many small amphitheatres 
found in the upper wall of the Canyon on both 
sides. From this "cusp" which has been named 
Chemehuevi Point, the last of the three great views 
of this re2:ion is obtained. But if one will take the 
trouble to go to Wallapai Point some two or three 
miles farther west, this view is marvellously ex- 
panded in that it reveals an unusually vast, retreat- 
ing amphitheatre in the south wall, possibly as far 
from eastern cusp to western cusp as the distance 
is to the farthest point on the north wall of the 
Canyon, viz., sixteen or seventeen miles. The eastern 
cusp is Wallapai Point, the western Apache Point. 

The name Apache Point was given, not only in 
accordance with the general system followed in 
naming the points on the south wall, but also be- 
cause it is singularly and tragically connected with 
the Apaches and Havasupais. These two tribes 
have long waged a relentless war one upon the 
other, though generally the Apaches have been 
the aggressors, and the, Havasupais on the defen- 
sive. But, whenever the hated Apaches entered 
Havasu Canyon on their depredatory or murdering 
excursions, and happened to be caught by those 
whom they came to slay or plunder, no mercy was 
shown to them. They were put to the torture and 
slain cruelly, and one method of killing them was 



112 IN AND AROUND 

to bring them out to Apache Point, where there is 
a frightful precipice, and there, one man holding 
the prisoner by the hair and the other by his feet, 
calling upon all the evil powers that are supposed 
to lurk in and about Chic-a-mi-mi Hack-a-tai-a (the 
Grand Canyon), the unhappy wretch was swung to 
and fro over that awful precipice until he showed 
certain signs of fear. Then, with a wild yell of 
triumph, giving him a fierce swing outward, both 
captors loosed their hold on the wretched Apache, 
and he dropped a thousand or more feet, to be 
mashed to a jelly on the rugged rocks beneath. 

A terrible way of punishing their hated and 
dreaded foes, and yet, the only way to inspire with 
wholesome fear such a tribe as the Apaches. 

The scene from Wallapai Point, which is the 
motive for the name given to the Grand Scenic 
Divide, is, indeed, of so marked a difference from 
the view presented on the east of the Grand Scenic 
Divide that Mr. Bass is congratulated afresh upon 
the keenness of his discernment and the fortuitous- 
ness of his discovery of so choice a scenic region. 
In the geological maps of the Grand Canyon it will 
be noticed that the archaean rocks appear imme- 
diately west of the Red Canyon Trail. They con- 
tinue to a point just below the Mystic Spring Trail, 
and then disappear for a number of miles, to re- 
appear once again for a short distance before their 
final disappearance from the bed of the Colorado 
River. Here before us is the point of their first 
disappearance. To our right and rear are the 
three plateaux before described, with Hue-tha-wa-li, 
Dutton Point, and many other important features. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



1 1 



but before us the distinguishing characteristics of 
the Canyon are distinctly new. They are Grand 
Canyon certainly. Nothing so grand and stupen- 
dous in proportion or striking and bizarre in coloring 
could be found elsewhere, but it is a different Grand 
Canyon from that viewed from Havasupai Point. 




Cvpyni;ht bv I . H. Maude. 

The Author and his Burro. 



Looking due west from this point, the one dis- 
tinctive feature is the aisles — deep, vast, mysteri- 
ous, and gloomy — in the marble, somewhere in 
the depths of which the river runs. The attention 
is not arrested to bold promontories, overpow^ering 
mural fronts, striking architectural forms. These 
are not entirely wanting, but they are subordinate 
to these massive aisles of a church whose foundations 
are in the centre of the earth, whose builder, maker, 



114 IN AND AROUND 

and only minister is God, and wherein the music 
is ever stately, solemn, majestic, pealing, — made 
by the deep roar of the river below. 

The river makes a great south bend here, sweep- 
ing around the nose of Mystic Spring Plateau and 
revealing a twenty-five hundred feet deep red 
marble and gray sandstone waH which reaches nearly 
to the river. This wall crosses the Canyon to 
within a mile or two of a line drawn from Wallapai 
Point, and were this wall and Havasupai Point 
close together and parallel, the wall would fully 
overlap the point a mile to the south. Around the 
southern point of this wall, — on the summit of 
which is an inner plateau named Coronado Plateau, 
in honor of the great explorer, — the Colorado 
River flows, strikes due west again for three or four 
miles, detours immediately to the north for about 
half the distance of its first curve, and then pi'oceeds 
westward in the depths of another profound red 
marble aisle. To this first wall I venture to attach 
the name of Cabeza de Vaca, — " the Wall of Vaca" 
— in memory of the great Spanish traveller whose 
reports of what he had seen and heai^d on his trans- 
continental journey led to the discovery of Arizona 
and New Mexico three hundred and fifty years ago. 
The first bend receives the name of Alarcon, — 
Alarcon Bend, — the second of Tobar, and the third 
of Stephen, the negro who discovered, with Marcos 
de Niza, the bold Franciscan friar, the region now 
called Arizona. 

At the second bend of the river, where it turns 
to flow northward, is a seemingly detached marble 
mass, on the summit of which a sleeping figure 



THE GRAND CANYON 115 

is to be observed, like those armored knights 
of mediaeval times seen in European churches and 
cathedrals. And, as no marble monument has ever 
been erected, as far as known, either in Spain, Mex- 
ico, or Arizona, to the brave Christian friar who 
first set foot within the borders of the last named 
country, I call this in his honor, Marcos Monument. 
The crreat west aisle is termed the Aisle of Carde- 

O 

nas, from the fact that Cardenas, marching from the 
land of the Hopi, was the first European that ever 
gazed into the profound depths of the great Col- 
orado River gorge. 

When the light and shadows are propitious, one 
can see clearly the great curve the river makes be- 
yond the Aisle of Cardenas, finally aiming almost 
due north, where it penetrates to the rear of Powell 
Plateau, behind Ives Point, for about thirty miles, 
ere it turns back to the southwest, where it is joined 
by the waters of Havasu (Cataract) Canyon. 

From a point on the south wall where this last 
named curve takes place a glorious and extended 
view may be had. The Kanab Wash and Canyon 
and the Hurricane Fault are clearly to be seen. 

It is in the early morning that this portion of the 
Canyon can be seen to best advantage. Then all 
its details are revealed, and its glories are not ob- 
scured by a too glaring sun. Its flaming red is 
harmonious and effective, its deep-cut aisles im- 
pressive, and the far away blue, irregular outlines of 
the Uinkaret Mountains, rising in the distance a 
little above the Canyon walls, give a completing 
touch to a faultless and unique picture. 



ii6 



IN AND AROUND 



(/) Pillars of Erosion 

No chapter devoted to the " rim " of the Canyon 
would be complete that failed to call particular 
attention to the many Pillars of Erosion which may 
be found all along from Lee's Ferry to Peach 

-Springs. Only a few 
of the most important 
of these can be men- 
tioned and pictured 
here. 

None of all the 
n a t u re - sc u 1 p t u r ed 
pillars surpasses the 
Shinumo Altar, found 
on the southern brink 
of the Marble Canyon 
about midway be- 
tween Lee's Ferry 
and the mouth of the 
Little Colorado. It 
is of a rich red Per- 
mian sandstone, and 
the ascending steps 
of the strata easily lead one to the thought that 
it was constructed to be climbed, and that on its 
summit a secret altar may be found. 

At Ute (Moran) Point is a round tower of cherty 
limestone detached from the main wall, which is a 
grand specimen of nature's erosive work. 

An even more striking example is the Split Cliff 
near Comanche (Bissell) Point. Here it seems as 
if a vast mass of the upper strata had split off 




"/Z. 



Shinumo Altar — Marble 
Canyon. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



117 



from the main wall, and was slightly tilted towards 
the river. 

Five miles west of Paiuti (Grand View) Point are 
two of the most striking and individualistic speci- 
mens of erosion with which I am familiar. These 
pillars stand, one on 
each side of a great 
amphitheatre, like 
guardian giants, to pro- 
tect the recess from 
intrusion. One of them 
is shaped like a hammer, 
and is large enough to 
be the weapon of a god, 
so I have named it Thor 
Hammer. The other is 
a little less striking, , 
and is named Pompey 
Pillar. 

In one portion of 
Evolution Amphi- 
theatre, where the 
wagon road from Bass 

Camp to Havasupai Point first touches it, are a 
number of these pillars of erosion. This is a 
veritable Land of Standing Rocks, and will afford 
great pleasure to those who care to examine it 
closely. 

Looking across from Surprise Outlook to Dutton 
Point, the canyon behind it will be observed. This 
is Muav Canyon, and on its banks, on the north 
side of Powell Plateau, a number of pinnacles 
appear. 




Copyright by F. H . Maude 

Pompey Pillar. 



ii8 IN AND AROUND 

In Kanab Canyon, farther west, numbers of them 
occur, as well, indeed, as at any and every point, 
almost, where one may touch. 

{£■) Various Impressions 

Various trains of thouglvt present themselves 
as one rides along the " rim " and looks into these 
profound depths. 

There will be few, 2/" any, more trails built into 
this portion of the Grand Canyon. The easier en- 
gineering portions already have been utilized, and 
the expense and danger of undertaking trail-build- 
ing operations on the sheer precipitous walls al- 
most preclude the possibility of its being further 
attempted. 

The water problem is a difficult one. If the 
power of the river were utilized to drive the neces- 
sary pumps for forcing water from the Inner Gorge 
to the rim, an inexhaustible supply would be the 
result, and this, undoubtedly, will some day be 
done. But " some day," " may be for years, or it 
may be " half a century; and in the mean time the 
water problem must be more readily solved. The 
water used at the Grand View Hotel is hauled a 
distance of thirty-eight miles. There is practically 
no water on the rim. As Mr. Bass years ago 
pointed out, the maps of the Geological Survey do 
not indicate the facts — or, if they do, the tyro at 
map-reading does not realize it — that, with the 
exceptions of the Little Colorado River, Havasu 
(Cataract) Creek, and Diamond Creek, the whole 
Watershed of the south wall of the Canyon slopes 



THE GRAND CANYON 



119 



away from the Canyon instead of towards it. Hence 
the singular and almost abnormal phenomenon of a 
river draining a country with the water which falls 
on each side of its banks flowing azvay from it in- 
stead of into it. To the prospector or unacquainted 




Copyright by George Vvhartofi James. 



Vishnu Temple from Upper Plateau, Grand View 
Trail. 



traveller in the district this strange state of affairs 
often brings danger, and even a near approach to 
death throus^h thirst; and to those who have the 
responsibility before them of supplying the needs 
of thousands of tourists each year who are accus- 
tomed to an unrestricted use of water, the problem 
is both vexatious and expensive. 

Personally, I see no other immediate way out of 



I20 IN AND AROUND 

the difficulty than that which Mr. Bass's indefati- 
gability and indomitable energy have hewn out for 
him at the head of the Mystic Spring Trail. With- 
out waiting for the opinion of scientific experts and 
engineers, or for capital to pump water up from 
the river, he has taken drill and hammer, brain and 
muscle, and by an ingenious combination of them 
all, assisted by powder and dynamite, and, later, by 
cement, has blasted out and made water-tight vast 
rock cisterns, which store the rain-water, storm- 
flows, and melted snow, cool, pure, and delicious, all 
throuQ^h the heated months, when water is the most 
precious and desirable thing in that part of Arizona 
and more valuable than a gold mine or a United 
States Senatorship. 

But the lack of water is only one of the difficul- 
ties a prospector will have to contend with. When 
he strikes the canyons, the fewness of the trails, and 
the difficulty of reaching the rock formations in 
which mineral may be found, will constantly hamper 
his progress. And, if he desires to cross the river, 
his dangers are increased tenfold. I know it is a 
common thing for ordinary people, not acquainted 
with the power of running water, and even for 
people born on sea, or river-shore, to say there 
are no difficulties in crossing or navigating the 
Colorado River in the heart of the Canyon. I have 
heard a Minnesota log-driver boast that he could 
ride a log down the most dangerous of the rapids 
or falls of the Canyon, and I have heard, a few 
months later, the humble story of the same re- 
doubtable log-driver as he recounted how that, in 
crossing in a boat and with good oars, a great up- 



THE GRAND CANYON 121 

wave struck under his boat, without the slightest 
warning, overturned it, and dashed him into the 
rapids, from which he was glad to escape with his 
life. He now confesses a profound respect and 
wholesome fear of the river, and says : — 

" An expert boatman may do all he thinks or says he 
can, but I know that if he does it is good luck and not skill. 
He may brag about it, and under the same circumstances 
try to do it again, and before he knows where he is, he and 
his boat and his bragging are all knocked endwise and 
crosswise, and upsidedown, and if he gets out at all he 
is Hke a half-drowned puppy who can neither bark nor 
whimper. No, sir, don't tell me of what a man can do and 
can't do. I Ve crossed that d — d river too often not to 
know that every time I do it I take my life in my hands, 
and one whack of the old river's tail may knock it out of 
my reach." 

When I asked him the cause of these up and 
down turning waves, which, in the chapter in which 
Frank Brown's death is narrated, are called foun- 
tains, he propounded the following theory : — 

" When the river is low you are not in as much danger 
from these waves as when it is high ; for when the water 
is low immense boulders find lodgment in the bed of the 
stream and remain there. But when the flow increases in 
power and speed these immense boulders, weighing, per- 
haps, a score or more of tons, are rolled over and over 
down the river with a force and speed that are irresistible. 
Now and again, they will run up against ' snags,' — 
lesser boulders in their way, that are wedged tight, or 
something of that kind, — and the water dashing along 
behind them at full speed is suddenly stopped or slack- 
ened under the surface, and a great up-wave is the result 
that turns on both sides of the boulder, or may twist 



122 IN AND AROUND 

upwards or downwards, or outwards or inwards, inside out- 
wards or outside inwards, or upside downwards or down- 
side upwards, or endside foremost or foreside endmost, or 
any or all of these all at once, or in quick succession, so 
that, if your boat happens to be just about that locality 
you may well ask, ' Where am I " at "? ' " 

1 confessed I should n't know, and he hoped I 
never might be where I should find out, in which 
good-hearted wish I sincerely joined. 

Old " Dad " has had several experiences which 
confirmed what had already been told me, and Mr. 
Bass's caution not to " monkey with the river " fell 
upon prepared soil. Then, too, a tragic event 
which occurred at the foot of the Bright Angel 
Trail, where two men, in essaying to cross the 
river in a canvas boat, were overturned and one 
of them in a few moments was carried out of sight, 
never to be seen again ; and the death of Brown 
and his companions, recorded in Chapter IV., and 
the — what might have proven equally tragic — 
experiences of Lieutenant Potter, recorded in the 
Peach Springs Trail chapter, all lead me to the 
possession of a respect for the dangerous power 
of the river, not unmixed with wholesome and re- 
straining fear. 

About a mile away from Havasupai Point are 
the remains of what was once undoubtedly a cir- 
cular lookout point, built of stone. It is three 
hundred feet in diameter, and commands a more 
extensive view than any other point on the south 
side of the Canyon for miles around. The higher 
walls of the north side of the Canyon, and every 
prominent landmark east, west, and south, includ- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



123 



ing Navaho Mountain, two hundred miles away 
to the northeast, and Mount Trumbull on the 
northwest, and the ranges of California in the west, 
and, close by, the walls of Havasu Canyon, are 
clearly seen. Numbers of pieces of pottery of the 




AXCIENT llAVASUPAI LOOKOUT — HeAD OF MySTIC SI'KING 

Trail. 



corrugated and other ancient types, arrow-heads, 
flints, etc., are found on the mound in great pro- 
fusion. This is but one of many indications of the 
occupancy of this region by Indians. 

At the head of the Mystic Spring Trail are the 
ruins of a prehistoric house, of which the Havasu- 
pais know nothing. It was there long before their 
immediate ancestors were born, and how old it is 
they have no tradition. They state, however, that 
it was used as a watch-tower, where guards were 



124 iN AND AROUND 

stationed when others of the tribe were at work at 
the mescal pits on Le Conte Plateau. If enemies 
came upon them they descended the trail, gave the 
warning, and, owing to the multiplicity of hiding 
spots in the heart of the Canyon, invariably de- 
feated the aims of their foes. 



THE GRAND CANYON 125 



CHAPTER XI 

THE GRAND VIEW TRAIL 



THERE were three trails reached by the stage 
which used to run from Flagstaff, viz., the 
Old, the Red Canyon, and the Grand View Trails. 




In the Granite at the Foot of Grand View Trail. 

These, in the order named, were the trails to 
which tourists were taken during the days of the 
Flao'staff staore. The Old Trail was washed out in 
a storm some years ago, hence became practically 



126 IN AND AROUND 

inaccessible. Then, after disappointing the more 
intellicjent and educated of the tourists for some 
years by taking them down a trail which did not 
reach the archaean rocks, and which, like the Old 
Trail, was "boxed in" almost the entire distance 
from the rim to the river, the Red Canyon Trail 
was abandoned by the railway officials and their 
tourists taken to the Grand View Trail A later 
chapter is devoted to these two trails. 

Viewed from every possible standpoint, this 
change was advantageous to the student, the geolo- 
gist, and the sight-seer. The " rim " views are 
equally good, if not superior, to those at the head of 
the Old and Red Canyon Trails, and a short day's 
ride will include them if it is so desired. The Grand 
View Trail is better engineered and constructed, and 
one may ride from rim to river nearly all the way, 
with the additional and really important advantage 
that the sight-seer descends to a large plateau, when 
about two thousand feet below the rim, and to still 
another, one thousand feet lower, from both of which 
plateaux extended and comprehensive views can be 
obtained in every direction from the interior of the 
Canyon, a desideratum rendered impossible by the 
"closed in" character of the Canyon at the two 
aforementioned trails. 

Again, the Grand View Trail reaches the river 
where it has cut through the granite to a great 
depth, thus giving a complete opportunity to know 
the character of "the Inner Gorge," — the name 
given by the geologists to the inner granite canyon 
through which the river runs, and which is the chief 
distinguishing feature oi the Grand Canyon. It is 




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THE GRAND CANYON 127 

the presence of the granite that mainly differentiates 
Marble, or Glen, or Desolation, or any of the upper 
canyons, from that supreme division of the way of 
the Colorado River known as the Grand Canyon. 

One other marked feature of the Grand View Trail 
is the recent discovery of an interesting series of 
caves, which I had the pleasure of exploring in 
company with Mr. P. D. Berry, one of the owners 
of the trail. They were discovered in 1897, by 
Joseph Gildner, a cook employed in the mining 
camp of Messrs. Cameron and Berry. 

It was late one afternoon when we entered the 
mouth of the first cave. Well within the entrance 
is a peculiar stalagmite of dendritic appearance 
which I desired to photograph. Having no flash 
powder, I cut up all the candles that could be spared 
into pieces long enough to burn for an hour or more, 
and in the light of twenty-seven of these burning 
candles left the sensitive plate exposed, while Mr. 
Berry guided me into farther recesses. This first 
cave is some three hundred feet long, and varying 
in height from ten to eighty or ninety feet. The 
second cave is of about the same length, but much 
higher, and the stalactites larger and more diver- 
sified in shape. 

A peculiar feature of these caves that has much 
puzzled the local minds is that, while most of the 
formations are white, the cave itself is in the red 
limestone or marble. This is merely another dem- 
onstration that the red marble wall of the Canyon is 
not of this color naturally, but is dyed red by the 
infiltration or flowing over of storm and rain water, 
saturated with the powerful oxydization from the 



121 



IN AND AROUND 



red sandstone above. All careful observers must 
have noted that wherever the outer dyed wall has 
been eroded, the color of the so-called red limestone 
is brown, or gray, or white, as the case may be, but 
never red. I conclude, then, that the original rock 




Copyright hy George IVharioti James. 

Dendritic Formation in Caves — Grand View Trail. 

of which the formations of the cave were made was 
white, and their preservation in this virgin state is 
owing to the sealing up of any water channels from 
the red strata above. 

Returning now to the entrance after some hours 
of absence, I placed the slide in my camera, and am 
pleased herewith to present my readers with the 
first and only photograph I have ever seen made 
by candle-light alone. 

As we stepped outside the entrance the darkness 
of Pluto greeted us. While we had been engaged 



THE GRAND CANYON 129 

within, clay had changed into night. There was 
no trail constructed at that early date in the dis- 
covery of the cave, and the knowledge of the diffi- 
culties of the upward climb we had made, in the 
full light of day, did not steady our nerves for the 
descent. But Mr. Berry is a man of expedients. 
In a few moments he had fired a withered cactus, 
and with the lis^ht of this torch we clambered on 
hands and knees, slipped or slid, stumbled or fell, 
down to the bed of Clear Creek Canyon, a thousand 
feet below, from which we soon reached camp. 

A well-built trail, however, now leads to the 
mouth of the caves, and he is wise who, desirous of 
seeing the peculiar processes of nature's internal 
workings, spends the short time necessary to go as 
far into these caves as his guide will conduct him. 



MO IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XII 

THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL 

THIS is the trail directly reached by the Santa 
Fe & Grand Canyon Railway, and therefore 
the most accessible. Consequently it will soon be 
the one best known. It is located some twelve 
miles west of the Grand View Trail. It receives 
its name from the beautiful Bright Angel Creek, 
which empties into the Colorado River on the 
north side of the Canyon almost opposite to the 
spot where the trail reaches the river. 

This — as were all the trails from the Little Colo- 
rado River to Havasu (Cataract) Canyon — was 
used first long ages ago by the Havasupai Indians, 
and, in the heart of the side canyon down which 
the trail s^oes, are still to be seen the rude irrigratins: 
canals which conveyed the large volume of water that 
flows from a near-by spring to the so-called Indian 
Garden, the richness of whose verdure is one of the 
great attractions to the tourist who gazes down from 
the rim. 

Recently a new upper section of trail, well engi- 
neered and of easy grade, was constructed from the 
Bright Angel Hotel for over a mile. 

Leaving the hotel, the trail drops westward for 
three-quarters of a mile, zigzagging back and forth 
until the top of the cross-bedded sandstone is 



THE GRAND CANYON 



I ^i 



3 



reached. Here, even the non-geological observer 
can see the faulting of the rocks, which has so 
broken and shattered the strata as to make a trail 
possible down these precipitous walls. The sign- 
board calls attention to the " drop " or " rise " of the 




Copy ri^ht by F H Maude. 

Battleship Iowa on Bright Angel Trail. 

sandstone, for, opposite us, the cap of this stratum 
is one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet higher 
than the same cap upon which we now stand. Mr. 
P. C. Bicknell, the geological expert of the Anita 
mines, states that all the copper mines of the region 
are found on a line almost due south from this fault, 
and his theory is that the copper was ejected during 
the time of the faulting. 

Down about a mile the line of separation between 
the cross-bedded sandstone and upper red sandstone 
is very clearly shown to the left of the trail. 



132 IN AND AROUND 

Immediately before us to the left is a majestic 
pile of the red sandstone, capping the red wall 
limestone. This is so much like a battleship that 
it has been called the Battleship Iowa. 

A few feet farther and the cross-bedded sandstone 
may be seen far below to the right, showing per- 
fectly the fault before referred to. 

Here, too, it is well to stand and observe that 
the fault extends away down the side gorges across 
the river and to the summit of the Kaibab Plateau, 
making the canyon of the Bright Angel Creek ; 
hence it has been called the Bright Angel Fault. 
A fine and comprehensive view also is had of the 
marble wall and the Indian Garden, and, far below, 
at the end of Pluto's Workshop, is to be seen a 
peculiar folding of the Algonkian strata, and, on 
the other side of the river the tilt of the same 
rocks. 

It is a singular fact that no pines are found on or 
near the trail, while they abound on the rim, and 
that the Douglas spruce of the trail cannot be found 
on the rim. 

As soon as the "blue lime" — as the stratum 
that crow^ns the " red wall limestone " is locally 
termed — is reached, there is an awkward piece of 
trail. Steps have been cut, logs placed upon them, 
and loose material thrown over all to make the 
descent easier ; but it is still a place for the rider to 
dismount and go ahead, leading his horse. Imagine 
what the descent of this great gorge would have 
been had not the processes of nature kindly broken 
up these precipitous walls into sloping taluses upon 
which the trails of pygmy man could be cut. 




by J-. H. niaude. 

Pillars of Erosion on Bright Angel Trail. 



THE GRAND CANYON 133 

Now we are on the summit of the red wall lime- 
stone, the most prominent member of all the canyon 
strata. It is a thousand feet in thickness, and its 
insistent mass is forced upon the attention every- 
where. The face of this wall is carved into numer- 
ous alcoves, and as we near its base, we observe to 
the right a vast double-cornered recess which we 
name Angel Alcove. Here, look up to the rim 
and observe the peculiar and varied contour of the 
many pinnacles cut by wind and storm out of the 
cherty limestone. 

From this point, also, the first good view is ob- 
tained of Buddha Temple, the dominating pile to 
the left of Bright Angel Creek. Below it is Bud- 
dha Cloister. Now look carefully at the ridge 
that leads the eye from Buddha Temple to Bright 
Angel Creek. It appears to be a portion of the 
main wall of the Kaibab Plateau. In reality it is a 
detached ridge, three miles from the plateau wall, 
and, under proper conditions, a vast temple may be 
seen between Buddha and the main wall. This I 
have named Manu Temple, after the great law-giver 
of the Hindoos. 

At the base of the red wall limestone the trail 
opens up a little and permits easier breathing to 
the tyro on horseback, and from now on to Indian 
Garden we ride in the " Boulder Bed," where large 
blocks of rock of every conceivable shape lie as 
they fell or rolled from the strata above. Small 
shrubs and plants abound, and tiny lizards and in- 
quisitive swifts dart to and fro, peering at the intru- 
der as if to inquire his business there. 

To the left of Buddha Temple and slightly nearer 



134 IN AND AROUND 

to us is a massive though less ornately carved 
monument than Buddha, which has been named 
Agassiz Tower, after our own great geologist, to 
correspond with Geikie Tower, named after Eng- 
land's rock expert, which is farther down the river. 
It has a spire at its south end — Agassiz Spire. 

Just above it and farther to the left is a peculiar 
temple, its cap composed of two acorn-like struc- 
tures resting upon their cups carved out of the cross- 
bedded sandstone. This we name Isis Temple. 
It is the eastern supporter of a vast and gigantic 
rock mountain that towers over all the lesser struc- 
tures in self-confident majesty- This is what Captain 
Dutton calls Shiva Temple, and thus describes : — 

" It is the grandest of all the buttes, and the most majes- 
tic in aspect, though not the most ornate. Its mass is as 
great as the mountainous part of Mount Washington. 
That summit looks down six thousand feet into the dark 
depths of the inner abyss, over a succession of ledges as 
impracticable as the face of Bunker Hill Monument. All 
around it are side gorges sunk to a depth nearly as pro- 
found as that of the main channel. It stands in the midst 
of a great throng of cloister-like buttes, with the same no- 
ble profiles and strong lineaments as those immediately 
before us, with a plexus of awful chasms between. In 
such a stupendous scene of wreck it seems as if the fabled 
' Destroyer ' might find an abode not wholly uncongenial." 

Now turn the eye away from Shiva across to the 
east of Briorht Anoel Creek, and there oudined 
against the sky are two of these noble-profiled 
buttes. The rear one, and the most dignified and 
majestic, is Brahma Temple, named after the first 
of the Hindoo triad, the Supreme Creator : for it 



THE GRAND CANYON 135 

seemed to me that if Shiva might find abode here 
in the thought of strata destruction, Brahma might, 
with equal congeniaHty, revel in the creation of the 
noble, character-full structures made by the destruc- 
tion of the featureless and uninteresting strata. 

The smaller butte — an angular mass of solid, 
unrelieved rock, sloping in a peculiarly oblique 
fashion — is Zoroaster Temple, thus adding to the 
Hindoo pantheon a fane for the founder of the reli- 
erion of the Irano-Persians. 

Passing now through Indian Garden, made green 
and fertile by the flowing of a large spring of water. 
Angel Plateau is reached. This extends for two 
miles to the very edge of the river. As we ride 
in that direction we note that the stream, called 
Willow Creek, flows into a boxed-up canyon, nar- 
row and boulder-strewn, then through a deep-cut 
ravine in the Cambrian to the Lower Garden. Here 
Nature has prepared for the erection of a dam 
which will convert Willow Creek into a beautiful 
HanQfins: Lake. A wall of solid schistose rocks 
divides the site of the lake from Lethe Creek, 
which flows eight hundred feet below. A dam fifty 
feet high will retain water sufficient to create the 
lake and give water power of untold voltage, for after 
the drop of eight hundred feet into Lethe Creek, 
there is still another four hundred feet fall before the 
waters reach the Colorado River. What a change 
such a lake will create! A body of pure, clear, 
sparkling water, hanging suspended in mid-air, 
overlooking a wild chaos of metamorphosed rocks, 
twisted, burned, tortured out of all original sem- 
blance into cruel and black jagged ridges that are 



136 IN AND AROUND 

fiend-like in their eager desire that you should fall 
upon them to your complete rending. Indeed, here 
are revealed many of the secrets of world-making. 
It is a veritable under-earth workshop, so I have 
named it Pluto Workshop, and the great pyramid, 
black and forbidding, at the very edge of the river, 
is Pluto Pyramid. The creek, that now flows bab- 
bling along through these once fire-tortured rocks, 
is Lethe Creek, and the waters, if captured and 
cooled, are so delicious that they bring oblivion and 
forgetfulness of the allurements of the upper world 
to those who drink of them. 

But the Hanging Lake does not yet exist. The 
waters of Willow Creek flow through a split in the 
rocks, and make a descent of two hundred or more 
feet so gently and quietly, and yet with such a sweet, 
mournful plaint, that one instinctively recognizes 
them as the Whispering Waters. 

Now, hastening to the end of Angel Plateau to 
Angel Point, we observe at the end of Yaki Point, 
to the east, another great battleship in stone, which 
we name the Oregon. 

In the red wall limestone, below the Oregon, is a 
prominent and imposing pile, named Langley Butte, 
after the accomplished secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution. 

Below us, in a sheer descent of twelve hundred 
feet, flowing through the black depths of the Inner 
Gorge, is the river, the sullen roar of its rapids 
striking our ears and filling our souls with dread. 
For it is a cruel river. Yonder waves have washed 
out from his body the soul of many a poor mortal, 
and yonder rocks in the rapids have eagerly struck 



THE GRAND CANYON 137 

the breath of life out of him, while the loud roar and 
rage of the waters have drowned his dying cries. 

Raising our eyes from the river to the stratified 
rocks above the Inner Gorge, we are attracted by 
the rich reds and purples, which, lying under the 
one hundred and eighty feet of the yellowish and 
greenish shales of the Cambrian, seem as if they 
must be the Algonkians of the Grand Canyon 
series. They appear in a series of waves and 
terraces, so we call the distinctive masses across 
the river the Algonkian Terraces. Below us, to 
the left, the creamy red streaks of pegmatite and 
the yellow seams of iron, and the ridges of schists 
in the highly metamorphosed rocks of the Inner 
Gorge, arrest our attention. Mr. Bicknell informs 
me that here also is a streak of garnets which 
stick into the schistose matrix like plums in a pud- 
ding, some of them as large as a tea-cup. 

Now, looking farther north and west across the 
river, two great terraced temples on this side of 
Shiva present bold fronts to us. The one to the 
north we name Confucius Temple, and the other to 
the south, Mencius Temple. Across the river, on 
the south side, and almost opposite to them, is a 
beautifully shaped mosque, which is the extreme 
end of Hopi Point. This we name Mahomet 
Temple. 

What a long sweep of plateau the eye roams over 
from Angel Point ! And what extensive views are 
presented in every direction ! To the extreme east 
of the Point is a small, detached mass of boulder- 
strewn rocks, upon which the visitor should not fail 
to clamber. Below is the river, east and west, with 



138 IN AND AROUND 

its rapids, sandbars, and quiet stretches. Across, 
are the Algonkian Terraces, leading the eye to 
the depths of Bright Angel Creek, whose pellucid 
waters flow through as wild a chaos of metamorphic 
rocks as we find in Pluto Workshop, which is on 
this side of the river, to our right. Look up thither- 
ward, passing on the way Pluto Pyramid and Al- 
gonkian Twist. Away up, just, below the Indian 
Garden, the tiny streak of the trail to the river can 
be followed, winding under the upper Cambrian 
wall, on to the schists, past Hanging Lake, and 
zigzagging down and around Pluto Pyramid to the 
muddy waters at its base. 

It is an interesting view of a fascinating but 
rather arduous trip which every visitor should take, 
for, when the weariness is forgotten, a delightful and 
never exhausted memory is the reward. 




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THE GRAND CANYON 



39 



CHAPTER XIII 

TWO DAYS' HUNT FOR A BOAT IN A SIDE GORGE 
NEAR THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL 



WHAT an excruciating, exhilarating, fatiguing, 
bone-stretching, muscle-straining, nerve- 
wearing, and feelings-lacerating work is this explor- 
ing the side canyons 



of the great gorge. 




I have explored a 
number of them, and 
a description of one 
is a description of all, 
with minor differ- 
ences in detail and 
variations of the ad- 
ventures experienced. 
On Thursday, 
August 3, 1S98, Dad, 
John, and I started to 
walk down the Bright 
Angel Trail. We 
were in quest of a 
large canvas boat 

that had been left near the river, and the use of 
which was offered to us if it could be found. The 
description given of its location was " down the 
trail to the Indian Garden, then work around on 
the plateau to the left. Pass one side canyon and 



" Dad," John, and W. W. Bass. 



I40 IN AND AROUND 

take the second. There will be no trail, but work 
your way down, and when you strike the river 
you will find the boat 'cached' up on the rocks 
under the lowest sandstone formation." It seemed 
all right, — it looks easy to find that boat now — 
on paper. We passed the garden, and came to the 
first canyon. This we left, and trudsfed on throusfh 
the blazing sun to the second. For food we had 
brought down six biscuits, six- oranges, two cans of 
tomatoes, and four or five lemons, expecting to re- 
turn to camp above that same night. As we passed 
Indian Garden we left half our provisions, and, with 
canteens full, pushed along. 

When we came to what seemed to be the second 
canyon, we climbed down and around until we came 
to a sandstone platform rounded off in steep slopes 
to the edge. Getting a glimpse here and there 
down below, we saw a possible fall upon rough, 
blade-like granite edges, cruelly thrust, like broken 
ribs through the skin of a man, through the bed of 
the river. Half an hour's careful search left us 
satisfied that there was no possibility of getting 
down here, so, climbing back, we sat under the 
shadow of an overhanging ledge and ate our frugal 
meal. Returning to the plateau, we walked some 
two or three miles farther west, and at last came to 
another side gorge. This certainly must be the 
canyon, so we began our descent. Carefully, cau- 
tiously, laboriously we lowered ourselves over the 
steep and slippery rocks, — down, down for several 
hundred feet, to where we stood on the ragged edge 
of nowhere, and a direct drop of several hundred 
feet before us. Nothino; to do but retrace our 



THE GRAND CANYON 



141 



wearisome steps as best we could, edge around still 
farther, and seek in the main gorge — of which we 
now discovered this was but an arm — the descent 
to the torrent bed, and thence to the river. Half 
an hour's hard climbinof brougrht us there. It was 




O'Neill Point from Bright Angel Hotel. 



all climbing ; little walking ; literally climbing, over 
rocks, around rocks, under rocks, surrounded by 
rocks. We were now in the wash of the summer 
torrent bed, full of rocks of all sizes, from a pea 
pebble to boulders larger than the dome of St. 
Peter's at Rome, St. Paul's in London, and the 
Capitol at Washington combined. Before and 
around us were boulders of sandstone, — red, gray, 
green, and yellow; of marble, — red, green, mottled, 
and variegated ; of limestone ; and, lower down, of 
schistose, and various colored granites. For a mile. 



142 IN AND AROUND 

two, three miles we thus climbed, then we came to 
where a boulder, large enough to build a Santa 
Sophia in Constantinople, had fallen into the bed 
of the stream, and there it stood ! We peered over 
its smooth and weather-worn summit, or, at one side, 
where lesser boulders had washed in and helped fill 
up a vacant place, and saw it was impossible to 
descend. To the left a wild, rugged slope of fallen 
boulders suggested we might get around it and 
descend on the other side. Up we went, over a 
place where a million tons of marble had fallen from 
no matter how many feet above, — marble in blocks 
that would have been the envy of a city contractor 
and builder, — and then, when we began to circle 
around our blocking boulder, our difficulties and 
dangers increased. The only way down was on the 
rough and crumbling edges of a granite dike, whose 
black ridges offered us a series of irregular steps 
down which a chamois or mountain sheep in a 
frenzy of fear might have been tempted to descend. 
A misstep meant death, for it is impossible to fall 
on solid rocks from a height of two or three hun- 
dred feet with safety. Slowly, cautiously, we picked 
our way. Now backwards, now forwards, but al- 
ways descending. Safe at last, we moved on. Then 
came our final disappointment ! We could hear the 
roar of the river ; we could see a granite dike whose 
base we knew was in the river. We should be there 
after a drop of three or four hundred more feet, and 
we dashed on joyfully and expectantly. Already 
we had our hands on that boat ! We saw ourselves 
opening it up, and then carrying it to the river and 
testing it, when, suddenly, we stopped! What! no 



THE GRAND CANYON 143 

descent ? Surely ! There we stood on the top of 
a frightful drop of not less than three hundred feet, 
smooth, polished granite the substance, and not a 
foothold even for a frog. It was discouraging, and 
my comrades lapsing into forgetfulness, ripped out 
several expressive and sulphurous expletives. Sor- 
rowfully we retraced our steps for half a mile, and 
then, after a council, began one of those frightful 
climbs that are so consoling when over and suc- 
cessful, and so depressing and disheartening when 
failures. We decided to attempt to climb up a 
thousand or more feet of granite, cross the knife 
edge, and see if it was not possible to get down on 
the river side. A forlorn hope, certainly! Yet 
sometimes forlorn hopes are successful. But think 
of and realize our circumstances ! All our food 
gone except one orange and a lemon ; with three 
nearly empty canteens ; night close at hand ; and, 
to add to our burdens, vivid lightning and roaring 
thunders now forced themselves upon our unwilling 
attention as we began to climb. John led the way, 

— now to the right, now to the left. Again and 
again, as he loosened a large rock, and it started on 
its headlong "bounces" to the bottom, his "Look 
out!" startled us into "looking up," to see him 
hanging on by the " skin of his teeth," a hundred 
feet almost directly over us. It was ticklish work 

— nervous work — exhausting work ; but oh ! what 
muscle and nerve developing work ; what self-reli- 
ance, readiness of perception, quickness of action 
developing work ! For an hour we climbed, bom- 
barded all the time by heaven's artillery, now and 
then stopping for breath and a few moments' rest. 



144 



IN AND AROUND 



At last the top was reached, and what a disappoint- 
ment it was! It was a perfect razor blade! At 
both ends, and on the opposite side from that up 
which we had scrambled, it dropped sheer off. 
Again we took breath and gained a little heart. 




Cofy'right /•)' F. H. Maude. 

Temporary Hotel at the Head of Bright Angel Trail. 



and, — gave up the boat. There was no other 
course left now but to retrace our steps to the 
bed of the canyon, wend our winding way up 
its tortuous passage, reclimb the plateau, and seek 
the garden, — seven or eight miles of muscle- 
stretching work; no food; growing dark. In an 
hour we had gone, perhaps, a mile and a half, 
and now it was too dark to see our way. Dangerous 
enouQ-h work it was when we could see, but with- 
out light it was courting disaster, or possibly death. 



THE GRAND CANYON 145 

to attempt it. The rain had soaked us through. 
We were all clad about alike. I had on woollen 
shirt, overalls, socks, and shoes. Not a very 
inviting prospect for an all-night session in the 
open air. We had noticed a clump of mesquite, 
as we came down, on a bench above. Climbing 
up to this, we soon had a fire, warmed ourselves, 
divided our solitary orange among the three of 
us, made a thinly sour lemonade with our lonely 
lemon, then took the little water left in our 
canteens, boiled it, steeped a little of the mountain 
rush in it, and after drinking it, stretched out on 
the bare, wet ground in our soaking garments, 
and were soon sleeping the restful sleep of the 
healthfully weary. 

In the morning, breakfastless and waterless, we 
started, before sunrise, to Indian Garden. F'ortu- 
nately it had not rained in the night, but no sooner 
were we on our feet than the rain descended furi- 
ously, with brilliant lightning and thunder accom- 
paniments, and we consoled ourselves by sending 
imaginary telephone messages to the camp on the 
summit. " Hello, Central. Give me Bass Camp. 
You, Bass ? Breakfast for three — strawberries 
and cream, oatmeal and cream, maple syrup and 
honey, dried toast, buttered toast, cream toast, 
porter-house steak, ham and eggs, baked potatoes, 
with hot cakes and coffee." This fancy did n't 
prevent our feeling hungry, and, pretty soon, get- 
ting wet through. This was our condition when 
we reached Indian Garden, where our tomatoes, 
biscuits, and oranges were. After refreshing drinks 
of the pure spring water and a restful stretch- 



146 IN AND AROUND 

out, we took our frugal meal. A few hours later 
the three and one-half miles' hard climb to the 
" rim " and the four miles' walk to the camp were 
over, a good dinner served, and our experiences 
nothing but a memory. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



H7 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE MYSTIC SPRING TRAIL 

STANDING on the brink of the Canyon at Sur- 
prise Outlook, after the eye has become accus- 
tomed to picking out the numerous objects in the 
Canyon, it is easy to describe generally the course 
of the Mystic Spring Trail. 

In order to form a general idea as to where we 
have to go, look down upon Le Conte Plateau 
towards the edge of Trail Canyon, between Hue- 
tha-wa-li Plateau and the Grand Scenic Divide. 
Seen from above, it presents a comparatively smooth 
and even surface, and appears to be dotted with a 
growth of dwarf-looking shrubs. Between us and 
the plateau a slope of talus extends, of sixty or 
seventy degrees, for a depth of fifteen hundred or 
sixteen hundred feet, when it breaks off on the sum- 
mit of a perpendicular wall of rock nine hundred 
feet in height. 

The trail begins not more than a yard from where 
we stand. One step and we are upon it. It glides 
down eastward for nearly a mile on the face of this 
talus, without a " zag " in it, and then zigzags for a 
short distance until a natural stream bed is reached. 
This is in the more solid portion of the cross- 
bedded sandstone. Near this point, a little below 
the trail, on the left, are two natural tanks or reser- 



148 



IN AND AROUND 



voirs, which catch the water as it races down the 
steep slopes after a shower, and thus stores it for 
future use. When these tanks were found by Mr. 
Bass they were completely filled with the debris 
that, for years, had been allowed to wash in and 
accumulate. Now that they are cleaned out, well 




On the Mystic Spring Trail. 



cemented, and carefully covered, they will hold 
several hundred barrels of w^ater, the value of which 
in the dry season it is impossible to estimate. 

Leaving the tanks and crossing this slight rocky 
ravine, the trail follows along the brink of a preci- 
pice until the so-called " Cliff-dwelling " is reached. 
I am inclined to the belief that this is nothing 
more than a corn storasje house, a score or more of 



THE GRAND CANYON 149 

which are found in the Havasu Canyon, especially 
in its upper reaches. As Le Conte Plateau and 
the region beyond was once the wandering ground 
and pasturage of certain Havasupai families, and 
they made their home in the interior of the Canyon, 
it is reasonable to assume that, near to their water 
cisterns, they would construct this food storehouse, 
where they could place their corn, dried peaches, 
dried pumpkins, dried meat, and other eatables 
during their short absences. 

A little distance from the cliff corn-house the trail 
reaches a sort of break, down the face of the cross- 
bedded sandstone, where it descends in a zigzag 
course, back and forth, until Le Conte Plateau is 
reached. 

Here the surface presents an entirely different 
appearance from what we saw twenty-five hundred 
feet above. It is broken and covered with mounds 
of earth and rock, while huge boulders are dis- 
tributed over it. The shrubs have grown into a 
forest of fair-sized trees, and while from the rim it 
looked as though travelling would be easy, and that 
one could see all around him, it is found that if the 
trail is left it is an easy matter to lose one's self 
among the trees and upheaved earth and rocks. 

We are in no hurry to reach the river, so let us 
see all we can, leisurely and easily, on the three 
out-thrust plateaus, before climbing Hue-tha-wa-li or 
descending Trail Canyon. As before noted, the 
easterly out-thrust of Le Conte Plateau is called 
the Grand Scenic Divide. From its summit one 
may look sheer down three thousand feet or more 
and see the dirty river scouring the rocks and 



I50 IN AND AROUND 

roaring along on its way to the Gulf of California, 
at the rate of what seems to be from ten to sixty 
miles an hour. But though we have descended 
nearly three thousand feet, our view of the river is 
so limited that one may cover it from sight with 
three finofers of the hand. 

To the right towers Havasupai Point, three 
thousand feet above us. At its base stands a great 
symmetrical pillar shaped like Cleopatra's Needle 
in Central Park, New York, but six hundred feet 
high. The Divide swings around a quarter circle 
and shows that it is a gigantic mass of red sand- 
stone and marble, as symmetrically built up as 
though done by a master mason, and away up on 
its weird side there is revealed to the spectator a 
monster monogram, " G. A. R." 

We ride out to the point and there obtain a long 
view of the river deep down in the Inner Gorge 
of granite, and, as we stand by the side of Dick 
Pillar, we feel that the indefatigable baker of Thurso, 
whose researches formed such valuable contributions 
to geological science, has here a monument more 
grand, noble, and enduring than any that his 
admirers could have erected to his honor. 

Returning now to the central or Hue-tha-wa-li 
(Mount Observation) Plateau, we essay the climb 
to the summit of the mountain from which the 
plateau gains its name. There is no trail here. It 
is pure climbing, and none will undertake it except 
those who love hard work and the marvellous view 
the summit affords. As we slowly take each step 
upwards we feel that we must find some ancient 
tenrtple on reaching the top. What a site for one! 




o 



6i 
> 

o 

Q 
< 

O 
J 

o 
U 

w 

X 



THE GRAND CANYON 151 

The Q:ods themselves have hewn out this mountain 
as a magnificent pedestal, upon which reverent wor- 
shippers might place their temple and altars there- 
upon to offer constant worship and sacrifice. 

It covers the interior canyon prospect in every 
direction. As a place of defensive retreat it would 
be absolutely impregnable. Only on the narrow- 
est and most precarious of paths could the summit 
be attained, and the will of a score of brave and 
determined men could have kept the whole armies 
of the world in check, had such a conflict occurred 
before firearms were discovered. 

Yonder, across the river, the keen eyes of our 
guide discern a mountain sheep, and we level our 
field-glasses upon him. 

It is a great sight, to witness the flight of a band 
of " Big Horns," or mountain sheep, on the steep 
slopes of the Grand Canyon. You would think not 
even mountain sheep could keep their foothold, 
much less run at full speed on this sloping talus, 
so plentifully bestrewn with boulders ; but they do 
it with perfect ease, and apparently with no con- 
sciousness of fear. They are wonderfully crafty, 
and it is hard to get near enough to shoot them, 
or with several companions surround, so as to en- 
trap them. When they are driven to frenzy by 
apparent hopelessness of escape, they will dash to 
the edge of great precipices, and without hesitation 
jump down, often landing on their skulls, rather 
than their feet. A roll or two, and they are up and 
off, and in your astonishment at this negro-like 
acrobatic feat you lose all chance of shooting them. 

It is on Le Conte Plateau, in the region of Hue- 



152 IN AND AROUND 

tha-wa-H, that many and various evidences of the 
use of this plateau as the home of the Indians are 
to be found. There are mescal pits, so long for- 
saken that they are buried under the talus of rock 
which has fallen ; others, in the centre and on the 
sides of which huge trees have grown. There are 
storage houses in the cliffs where corn and other 
foods were placed, and houses occupied by the 
Indians themselves. Indeed, there are a few of these 
houses where the Havasupais yet come and live 
while they are making mescal, or gathering it to 
take away. 

Even on the igneous rocks down in the very in- 
most recesses of the Canyon, similar evidences of 
human occupancy exist, and the Havasupais speak 
of them all as the residences of their forefathers. 

Descending Mount Observation, we stand in in- 
terested amazement before " Balanced Rock," a 
huge mass of stone weighing many tons, the base 
of which has so disintegrated as to leave the upper 
and more solid portion resting upon the slightest 
possible foundation. While it does not " swing," 
as do the balanced rocks of Cornwall, it appears so 
much like them as to justify the name. 

Now we may ride out to the point of Mount Ob- 
servation (Hue-tha-wa-li) Plateau, where the view 
is similar to the one enjoyed from the Grand Scenic 
Divide, or shall have shortly from the Mystic Spring 
Plateau, the westernmost offshoot from Le Conte 
Plateau. We look down the vast recesses of Cop- 
per Canyon and see a score of " El Capitans " in 
the red marble walls on either side. Then we 
ride out towards Mystic Spring, passing on the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



153 



way a curious freak of erosion known as Seal Head 
Rock. 

It was Captain Burro who led Mr. Bass to Mystic 
Spring, whose existence he had long known, but 
which all his most careful searchings could never 
find. They had become great friends, and Burro 




Seal Head Rock, near Mystic Spring. 



had learned that this white man had, so far, been 
true to all his promises. So, one day, after Mr. 
Bass had returned from another wearisome, dis- 
heartening, and futile search. Burro said, " Bill v, you 
give me a sack of f^our and half a beef, and I show 
you my spring, and you can always use it for your- 
self and your horses." The transfer of the prop- 
erty was made, and Mr. Bass was taken to the 
spring, which, to his great amazement, was so near 



154 



IN AND AROUND 



to where he had searched in vain for it, that he 
could have thrown a pebble into it. Hence, the 
name he had already given to it — long before he 
saw it — the Mystic Spring. 

And it is mystic in more ways than one. Its 
curative properties in cases of dyspepsia, as well as 
the sinorular manner in which it seems to ooze out 
of the solid rock, make the name most appropriate. 
Now and again it disappears entirely. 

Standing at the spring in front of us is a yawn- 
ing abyss whose bottom is floored with the rocks of 
ages, and whose sides are perpendicular walls of 
rock. To our right is a deeper abyss of the same 
style of architecture. To our left, a still deeper 
one, the deepest one so far seen, and through which 
we obtain another view of the river. This is Mystic 
Amphitheatre. 

At the extreme north end of Mystic Spring 
Plateau, we look into the amphitheatre named the 
" Ruins of Paradise," on account of its towers and 
turrets and the transcendent coloring of its lofty 
vertical walls, which recalled Milton's description 
of the walls of heaven and the great difficult}^ the 
arch fiend found in scaling them. 

Here, in the Ruins of Paradise, is the region of 
chromes and Naples yellows, the blues, and the 
delicate shades of browns and grays. 

It is when you are among the shales and slates, 
and where the serpentine marble lies, that these 
exquisite colors reveal themselves in all their glory. 
These do not appear everywhere. They are not 
dominant, insistent, like the reds. It is only when 
you seek them out, in such secluded nooks as this. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



'55 



that you can enjoy to the full their unique revelry 
of coloring. 

Then, too, the luminous haze, which generally 
may be observed everywhere in the Canyon in the 
early morning or late afternoon hours, is nowhere 
so luminous and radiantly beautiful as down here. 
It seems to take 
upon itself from 
these rich and 




Burros drinking at Mystic Spring. 

some of their glory, so that the two effects com- 
bine to make an unequalled scene of transcendent 



Now, riding around from Mystic Spring to the 
head of Trail Canyon, we are ready for the river. 
How the trail winds around and takes advantage 
of every opportunity to descend. We are under 
the western wall of Hue-tha-wa-li Plateau, soon to 



156 IN AND AROUND 

be curving down under Le Conte Plateau. As we 
enter the marble the walls grow narrower and nar- 
rower, until, for a short distance, we are within a 
mere gorge, but the stupendous height of the walls 
almost frightens us as we look up and see them 
conjoined to the sky. On the wall to the left is a 
great Gothic archway, that seems like an entrance 
to a vast and inaccessible cave. The contour of 
the entrance changes as we approach nearer to it, 
and we see that it is merely a break in the marble, 
where either the crushing of an uplift has mashed 
the rock and made it easily disintegrated, or it is 
the remains of one of the many vast caves — eaten 
out by acid-charged waters — found in this forma- 
tion throughout the entire canyon system. 

Down we go, farther and farther. The narrow 
canyon opens out, and we breathe more freely. The 
trail is excellent, and we ride in comfort. 

Now we come to a great monoclinal fold of the 
lower strata, cut through by the storm waters, which 
again and again, doubtless, during the centuries, 
have dashed down Trail Canyon. The fold stands 
almost directly parallel to the course of the canyon, 
for a short distance, so that as the processes of 
erosion have been performed the tilted strata first 
appeared by being denuded of covering strata above 
and on each side of their upturned edges. Then, 
as erosion cut deeper, the wall composed of the 
folded strata formed an obstacle to the passage of 
the storm waters on its eastern side, as, at its lower 
exposed end the canyon makes a slight curve, and 
the fold is left undisturbed and uncovered as a por- 
tion of the right canyon wall. So, during some 



THE GRAND CANYON 



^S7 



violent storm, or, perhaps, by the slower processes 
of weathering, the perpendicular wall was cut 
through, and we now ride through a cut in the 
great uncovered tilt, where the curve stands upon 
our right, and the remains of the upturned wall, 




Wheeler Fold in Trail Canyon. 



its upper edges jagged and rough, is upon our 
left. This fold I have named the Wheeler Fold, 
and its corresponding wall to the left, the Gilbert 
Wall. 

A little farther on, and the trail, which has left 
the bed of the stream, turns into it, doubles on 
itself, and returns into a shut-in gorge. At its 
extremity we find ourselves in a camp more per- 
fect and complete than the one at Mystic Spring ; 
for the bed of the canyon here has so eroded as 



158 



IN AND AROUND 




and 
rough 



to make a precipice of fifteen or twenty feet, and 
the overhanging rock makes of the precipice such 
a place as the Cliff-dwellers built their fortress 
homes in centuries ago. Here Mr. Bass has stores 
of food, a portable forge, anvil, and other aids to 
his trail building and mining operations. 

Above the camp, 
reached by a 
ladder built 
of mesquite, is a 
tiny spring of pure, 
sweet water, nestling 
in a basin of solid 
rock. 

From this camp 
the trail leads us over 
still another mile and 
a half, winding its 
sinuous and tortuous 
way over the steep 
and adamantine 
granite. There to 
the right is the place 
where we stood and 
looked at and longed 
to reach the river as recounted in the next chap- 
ter. But now the trail leads us to the muddy 
waters, and after watering the horses and tying 
them up, watching the fierce rapids which are 
somewhat similar to those described elsewhere, 
looking up and around at the buttes, temples, 
spires, and walls which surround us, we doff our 
clothing, and, in a safe harbor, plunge into the 



^"^t^ 



The Ladder to the Spring at 
Bed Rock Camp. 




O 

O 
O 

w 

X 



o ,^ 



THE GRAND CANYON 159 

" raging Colorado " and enjoy the luxury of a swim. 
More of a bath, it is, than a swim, but it is delight- 
ful to feel one's self in deep water, even though 
it be the sand-, silt-, and color-laden water of the 
Colorado. 



i6o IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XV 

THREE DAYS OF EXPLORING IN TRAIL CANYON 
WITH THE WRONG COMPANION 

TRAIL Canyon is that inner side gorge down 
which the Mystic Spring Trail leaves Le 
Conte Plateau on its way to the river. On one of 
my visits some years ago, before this portion of the 
trail was constructed, I determined, if possible, to 
reach the Colorado down this canyon. Mr. Bass 
had been down several times, and, although he 
warned me that it would be rather a hard trip, he 
felt sure I could make it. I had with me at this 
time two companions, one a doctor, and the other 
" was not." No sooner did they learn of the in- 
tended outing than they also desired to go. Mr. 
" Was-not " was not very strong, physically, and 
Mr. Bass urged him not to go, but not content with 
this advice he came and solicited my counsel. 
I felt somewhat diffident about advising him, for, 
unhappily, I had learned that should I bid him 
remain, he would forever after regret and complain 
that I had had some ulterior object in not allowing 
him to go, and if, on the other hand, I said " Go," 
and the trip were to prove, as I felt assured it 
would, very arduous, he would not be the man to 
face difficulties with equanimity, and would condemn 
me for having permitted him to go. Still, as he 
wanted to go, and as, I must confess, I did not an- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



i6i 



ticipate anything like the hardships we afterwards 
encountered, I said that if he much desired it, he 
would better go, and I would do all I could to help 
him. I was soon sorry I gave him this advice, for, 
five minutes after we started, he began to complain, 




Looking down Trail Canyon. 



and, with but few — very few — interruptions, kept 
it up until we returned, three days later. In leaving 
the upper section of the Mystic Spring Trail, we 
had to descend, for perhaps two thousand feet, an 
almost precipitous talus, with no suggestion of a 
trail. Now we were dropping down eight and ten 
feet ledges, then climbing over loose boulders, only 
to alight on a mass of sliding debris which carried 
us along perilously near a precipice five hundred 
feet high, over which we could hear the fore-portion 



i62 IN AND AROUND 

of our rocky stream fall upon the marble beneath. 
Several times we found ourselves on ledges which 
ended nowhere, and our steps had to be retraced. 

The only provisions we had loaded ourselves 
with were a couple of cans of fruit, one can of 
salmon, a few dried biscuits, some sugar, and a 
small canteen of water. We thought we should 
surely reach the river that night, and there we 
could refill the canteen and return to Mystic Spring 
Camp the next day, where there was an abundance 
of both provision and water. 

But, as we slowly climbed and slid downwards, 
and saw the sun hastening to his western domain, 
the long black shadows thrown in the canyon cast 
equally black shadows upon the hope that we 
should see the river that night. Indeed it was 
already starlight when I called a halt. I found 
a small sandy spot, where I thought we three could 
sleep. As the wind blew down the canyon at night 
I placed Was-not, our complaining friend, on the 
lee of a huge rock which effectively shielded him. 
The doctor took a position by the side of another 
rock on the lower side, and I lay in the open, al- 
most at right angles with Was-not. I had chosen 
these positions purely for the benefit of my friends, 
but the kicker "kicked" at his position, and I had 
to reason with him and show him " why " I had 
thus placed him. Then he began to whine. " How 
was he to sleep in such a place .f* He had no 
blankets and no tent, and he had never slept out 
of bed or out of doors in his life. And what if 
rattlesnakes came to us in the night } or centipedes.? 
or what would become of us if those gigantic rocks 



THE GRAND CANYON 163 

should fall on us ? " (they did look fearfully threaten- 
ing in the semi-darkness) and what this, and what 
the other, until I fairly exploded with a somewhat 
petulant sermon on his lack of faith in the Almighty. 
I contended that, as he had used the best judgment 
he possessed in making this trip, he had as much 
right, after committing his way unto the Lord, to 
expect His protecting care as if he were asleep in 
his own bed. I then turned over, and had just gone 
to sleep when another whine began, and the doc- 
tor afterwards told me that poor Was-not was so 
nervous he had to sidle up to him, hold his hand, 
and soothe him as if he had been a child, before he 
could get him to sleep. 

Early in the morning, after a frugal meal, we 
started on again. I could enjoy writing a long 
chapter on the wonders of the trip to our then less- 
accustomed eyes, but we were in a hurry to see the 
river. The sun came up, and it became hotter and 
hotter. Soon the canteen was empty, and the 
springs or water-pockets we had expected to find 
on the way down were not there. As we neared 
the river, travelling became harder and harder, and 
the heat grew so intense that where we had to pull 
ourselves over boulders, the rocks blistered our 
ungloved hands. About noon we did find a water- 
pocket, half full of a stagnant liquid in which toads, 
tadpoles, and mosquitoes, etc., held high carnival. 
Although we were already terribly thirsty, none of 
us could drink this horrible stuff, so we hurried on 
in order to get water at the river. Coleridge's words 
truthfully pictured our fearful state as, — 

" All in a hot and copper sky 
The bloody sun at noon " 



i64 IN AND AROUND 

shone down upon us with pitiless fury, and increased 
our already dreadful thirst. Imagine our horror, 
and the terror of our situation, when at last we 
came to a cliff of granite, to the summit of which 
we managed to creep, and crawl, and climb, and 
saw, three hundred feet below, the river dashing 
madly along, but could discover no possible way by 
which it could be reached. It was as absolutely 
inaccessible to us as if it were in the moon. Mr. 
Bass had explained to the doctor how we could 
get down to the river, by retracing our steps some 
distance and climbing over the cliffs to the left, but 
Was-not could not be persuaded to go, and he 
was horrified at the idea of our going and leaving 
him alone. We were indeed in a terrible quandary. 
No water, very little provision, a day and a half, at 
least, from Mystic Spring Camp, and a man on our 
hands who was worse than all the other calamities 
of the trip combined. 

" With throats unslacked, with black lips baked, 
We could not laugh nor wail." 

It was too hot to think of attempting to return, 
and yet it was like being in a furnace, remaining 
where we were. Our empty canteen actually 
seemed to take on a fiendish face, and laughed at 
us every time we looked at it ; the rocks seemed to 
grow hotter, and our throats, lips, and tongues more 
parched. So, making a virtue of our necessity, we 
returned to the water-pocket I had discovered on 
the down trip, and turning my felt hat inside out, 
scooped into it, water, tadpoles, dead and live mos- 
quitoes, mud, slime, and the rest, and then sat on 



THE GRAND CANYON 165 

the scorchinq; hot rocks, the doctor holdingr the 
canteen and I the hat, waiting for the water to filter 
throusfh. It took us a full hour to exhaust the 
pocket and obtain three-quarters of a canteen full 
of this " tadpole soup." Then we returned to where 
there was a little shade to be had, and spent the 
day until about five o'clock, dodging the sun. The 
moment the fierce Monarch of Day, who seemed 
determined to scorch our brains out, and then bake 
us alive, dodged over the western rim of our box- 
canyon, we started for the place where we had 
stayed the night before. Every few steps we had 
to stop and rest, and far oftener than I liked one 
or the other of us would want water. I carried the 
canteen, as I dared not trust the precious — though 
filthy and odorous — fluid in any one else's hands. 
When we reached our sandy bed, poor Was-not 
was so nervous that he could not sleep. He was 
far worse than on the previous night, and, after 
several futile attempts to get him to sleep, as a 
last resort I had to rub him down and massaofe 
him with a little of the valuable fluid from the 
canteen. 

In the morning, while the stars were smiling on 
us, we started for the summit. The " water " had 
nauseated the doctor, and we had nothino- to eat, 
but pluckily he trudged along. How I dreaded to 
see the first orleam of sunlio^ht ! I had often watched 
with intense delight the sparkling diamond the sun 
makes on a canyon wall, as in the Yosemite, and 
had even studied to find a low place in the rim 
where I could enjoy that indescribably beautiful 
effect, and then, running to obtain a different angle, 



1 66 IN AND AROUND 

see it again and again, several times; — but now! 
how I longed for the power of Joshua, that success- 
fully I might have bidden the sun stand still ! 
But I had no such power, and ruthlessly, remorse- 
lessly, indeed, rather gleefully, it seemed to all of 
us, he finally shot over the walls with an unseemly 
and indecorous haste, and made our upward climb 
more arduous than before. We were all nearly at 
the last gasp, but Was-not felt that his oppor- 
tunities would be lost if lie did not expend his 
strength and nervous energies in complaining : 
" What a fool he was to have come on such a trip ! 
Would the Lord ever forgive him for venturing 
on such a foolhardy errand? If He would, and 
would allow him to get out, a hundred million dol- 
lars should never tempt him to make it again," and 
so on, ad libitum^ ad nauseam^ until, disgusted and 
annoyed beyond control, the doctor called me on 
one side and said: " This trip and that man's whin- 
ing are driving me crazy. Stop his howling or I 
shall become insane and kill him." I felt exactly in 
the same condition tlie doctor so graphically and 
tersely described, so, turning to Was-not, I burst 
forth : " You came down here of your own will, 
knowing as much of the difficulties as we did. We 
have helped and cared for you all we could, and 
now, I, for one, propose that you shall stop your 
howling and kicking. Can't you see that every 
breath you waste in this foolish complaining is 
exhausting your nerve energies, and the effect of it 
upon us is as bad as upon yourself } We 're in a 
tight place, and it will be hard work for us to get 
out. Now you either quit, or, the next growl you 



THE GRAND CANYON 167 

make we '11 leave you, and you can get out or not, 
as you like." 

This emphatic and seemingly brutal remonstrance 
had the desired effect, for, of course, we could never 
have left the poor fellow down there, no matter 
what he had said or done, but it was a comfort to 
" hear him still " for a while. 

During this "interlude" the doctor built a 
signal fire, in the hope that the smoke would be 
seen by Mr. Bass, and he would come or send 
some one to our rescue. But, unfortunately, the 
breeze sent the smoke down the canyon instead 
of allowing it to ascend, so that the effort was in 
vain. 

Again we started, and slowly labored on, and just 
as the last sip was taken from our canteen, we came to 
the final climb, helped each other up to the Mystic 
Spring Trail, and then — lay there. But "lying 
there " would never do. We were all faint from loss 
of food and water. We held a consultation. One 
of us had to go to Mystic Spring — three miles 
away — for help. Of course Was-not could not 
go, — it was between the doctor and myself which 
should brave the heat of the afternoon sun. I 
offered for the service, but confessed my doubt 
as to my ability to stand the heat. If I had had 
shade I think I should have gone without a question, 
but — The upshot was, the doctor bravely went, 
and Was-not and I lay in the shade of the rocks 
as best we could. I think that he lay offering 
thanks, — I offered mine, with a sincere heart, — 
and then to divert my mind from the pangs of 
hunger and thirst, buried myself in a few pages of 



r68 IN AND AROUND 

one of Wilkie Collins's novels which I had slipped 
into one of my pockets. In about an hour and a 
half — it seemed an age — Mr. Bass's partner hal- 
looed as he crossed the Winchell Ridge, and soon 
after, with two extra horses, and two generous can- 
teens filled with the refreshing water of Mystic 
Spring, rode up, and we were saved. 

How delicious that water was ! and how I longed 
for the neck of a giraffe to feel the exquisite sensa- 
tion prolonged as it bubbled into my mouth and 
down my throat! I wanted two yards of throat in- 
stead of the little I had. After this it was an easy 
ride, and a delightful arrival at Mystic Spring, 
where we found the noble doctor already recup- 
erated and almost ready for another trip. The next 
day we were all right, and it would have required 
only a powerful enough object, and two more 
canteens of water, to have sent us off on a similar 
expedition. Was-not has since expressed himself 
as to the " folly " of our adventure. Why go dow^n 
into that canyon ? Where could any benefit be 
derived by ourselves or others.? Why cannot men 
be content to stay in places of safety and comfort, 
and not jeopardize life by trying to know more than 
easily comes to them ? 

And I cannot help the reflection : how true to 
life — or many people's conception of life — this 
kind of complaining is. Was-not is right, after 
all, from the worldly-wise standpoint. It is an un- 
wise and dangerous thing to explore that wondrous 
canyon-mystery we call " life." Happy is that man 
who is content to remain on the dead level, and who 
neither seeks to penetrate the depths or. the heights 



THE GRAND CANYON 169 

he sees around him. True; they are there, — he 
recognizes their existence, but cares not to know, 
dares not to risk finding, the mysteries which may 
be hidden therein. Why dare ? Why risk ? Has 
he not bread and butter as it is ? Down there may 
he not lose it } Better let well alone, and let the 
canyon's deeps be explored and the mountain's 
heights and fastnesses scaled by the " fools " who 
will dare and venture, because they are not content 
where they are. 

But, thank God ! for adventurous souls who wz/l 
dare, who wz'// venture, who wi// explore, even at 
risk of life and all that ordinary souls hold dear. 
The world would soon die of stagnation and dead- 
rot were it not for the Leif Ericsons, the Colum- 
buses, the Drakes, the Cabrillos, the Wattses, the 
Stephensons, the Edisons, the Morses, the Frank- 
lins, who in all the walks of life w^'// leave the ruts 
and seek to find out the hidden mysteries of Nature 
and Life. 

And as in the physical so in the mental world. 
We need the daring souls who will face the work-a- 
day common world with new and startling thoughts, 
who will soar into the heavens and throug-h the 
canyon depths on the wings of imagination and 
bring us back the flowers and food found in their 
flight. 

Yes, we are orjad and thankful that the daring 
ploughman is to be found who ruthlessly and 
cruelly, it seems to us, drives his ploughshare 
over the field whose harvest we are now reaping. 
And he makes it barren and bare ! But the new 
seed is sown by the Almighty Father of us all, and 



170 IN AND AROUND 

soon a new, a richer, and a fuller harvest comes to 
us, and we discover, — nearly always too late, 
though, — when the ploughman has gone to his 
eternal rest, — that he was our bravest and our best 
friend. 



THE GRAND CANYON 171 



CHAPTER XVI 

MR. W. W. BASS AND HIS CANYON EXPERIENCES 

EVERYTHING depends upon the " angle of 
vision " in which you stand as related to any 
given subject. To the neat, finical, faddy people, 
who use sapolio on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 
and all the other secular days, in order that they may 
rest on Sunday, and whose linen must be "just so," 
and the cooking even more so, and everything in 
life done on the perfect plan, the semi-Indian life 
of the pioneer and explorer in wild Arizona would 
be a torture and a misery. 

What a life to lead ! Never, or seldom, sleeping 
in a house, but out of doors, on Mother Earth's 
sturdy bosom ; dusty, dirty, rocky, muddy, often 
wet and always hard ; bugs, flies, fleas, mosquitoes, 
centipedes, earwigs, rattlesnakes, and scorpions as 
occasional companions ; in the neighborhood of 
rats, bats, wolves, foxes, coyotes, and skunks, and, 
now and then, bears and mountain lions ; cooking 
over a camp fire where everything gets smoked, 
black, and dirty beyond remedy, and where 
handles get red-hot and cut into one's flesh, and 
where smoke gives flavor to everything, — and this 
in the best of weather. But in " other " weathers ! 
Think of cooking in a sand-storm, with fine sand 
penetrating everything ; in a rain-storm, when wood 



172 IN AND AROUND 

is wet, fire won't burn, and everybody is ill-tempered, 
and hungry ; in a wind-storm, when the smoke 
whirls and swirls in every direction, and one's eyes 
are blinded, and the fire burns now to the east, 
then to the west, veers to the north, then to the 
south, and finally to all points of the compass and 
up and down at the same time ! And eating and 
sleeping and riding and driving and working have 
all to be done under similar adverse conditions. 
Away from civilization and humankind, seldom 
meeting men, much less women, and many of those 
that are met " rough and ready," good-hearted, 
good-natured, but profane, unrefined, vulgar, and 
uncouth, " on the draw," equally ready for a game 
at cards, a " booze," a row, or a fight ; with such 
associates as these one would think life would be a 
failure, and that all man's highest aspirations and 
destinies would be overlooked and forgotten. Yet 
it need not be so ! The pioneer may be, and often 
is, rough and uncouth, but it is not uncommon to 
find him regarding all the things mentioned as the 
merest incidents. Life itself is in breathing the 
pure, unsmoked, unsmelling, un-bacteria-laden air 
fresh from God's desert, forest, mountain, and 
canyon laboratories ; in seeing and feeling himself 
under the clearest sky of God's creation ; in walking 
in His temples of stately aisled trees, sweet-smell- 
ing, health-giving, and soul-uplifting ; in going 
with deep reverence into His sculptured and 
cloistered cathedrals of deep canyons, mysterious 
and glorious, marvellous and sublime; in hearing 
His voice in the joyful songs of birds, the whisper- 
ing of leaves, the roaring of rivers, the babbling of 



THE GRAND CANYON 173 

brooks, the crashing of thunder, and the thousand 
and one sounds that animate Nature gives vent 
to in accordance with the Creator's will. In the 
buoyant sense of freedom and contact with God 
Himself that are two of the rewards of his solitude ; 
in the grand development of individuality, selfhood, 
calm confidence, and self-reliance that necessarily 
come to him if he continues in such life, — these 
are what make up his pleasures, his compensations. 
He may be grizzled and unshaven ; his clothes 
soiled and worn; his linen torn or uncared for; 
his food coarse and rudely prepared ; his sleeping 
accommodations gypsy-like and unprepossessing, 
his speech unlearned and unrefined ; yet if the men 
who live in cities and who are the reverse of him in 
these thiuQ^s were to come in contact with him more, 
the world would progress with a speed hitherto 
unknown, the doctor's work would largely disappear, 
the doors of the insane asylum would be closed, the 
lawyer would be much less called upon, and the 
numbers of the priest ridden and driven much 
reduced. 

Such a train of thought is naturally inspired 
each time I look upon the sturdy personality of my 
friend, William Wallace Bass, the only real guide 
into the Grand Canyon of Arizona. 

He was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, October 2, 
1849. In 1850, his father, attracted by the gold 
excitement, came to California, died in 1851, and 
was buried in Sacramento. The year-old boy had 
no memory of his father, but, as he grew- older, the 
story of that sad and untimely death out in the West 
was always a peculiar source of attraction, and ac- 



174 



IN AND AROUND 



counts for the readiness with which he hurried west- 
ward when the opportunity arose. 

As he grew to manhood he entered railway life. 
Shortly before coming to Arizona he was train 
despatcher on the Elevated Railway of New York, 
when his health broke down, and General Winslow, 




Joe, the Burro; Shep, the Dog; W. W. Bass, the Canyon 

Guide. 



then Vice-President of the Atlantic & Pacific Rail- 
way and President of the St. Louis & San Fran- 
cisco Railway, urged him to visit Arizona and see 
if the climate there would not restore him to 
health. 

For eight years he had been a conductor on the 
Erie Railway, under the presidency of "Jim " Fisk, 
hence it was natural that when he first arrived in 
Arizona he should endeavor to resume work at the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



'75 



occupation with which he was familiar. But dis- 
satisfied with railway work, in 1883 he took up a 
ranch eight miles from Williams, and there lived in 
a cave formed by the waters of the Havasu (Cata- 
ract) Creek he has since so thoroughly studied. 

Soon after his settlement in Williams he read in 
some Arizona paper one of those strangely roman- 
tic accounts of the Havasupai Indians elsewhere 
referred to, and this gave him an intense desire to 
see so peculiar and wonderful a people, who were 
said to combine within themselves so many character- 
istics of the Indians of centuries agone. He had 
also heard of the prospecting trip on which Mooney 
was killed, and had accidentally met one of the men 
who was with Mooney at the time. This man had 
informed him that there was an old Indian trail 
which crossed Havasu Canyon at a point where it 
was "boxed in," which would lead him directly to 
the Havasupai village. The general supposition at 
that time was that the Havasu Creek " boxed " soon 
after leaving Williams, and was impassable and " un- 
crossable " after it was thus closed in. 

Experiencing difficulty in inducing any one to 
take so risky and arduous a trip merely for the 
pleasure of seeing a few Indians and their home, he 
concluded to go alone, and, accordingly, made his 
preparations. Eating in a restaurant the day before 
the start was to be made, a man came and acciden- 
tally took the seat by his side. By and by the two 
entered into conversation, and it turned out that the 
stranger was an Easterner with whose friends Mr. 
Bass was somewhat familiar. He was wearing an 
eleofant grold watch on which was inscribed " Pre- 



176 IN AND AROUND 

sented to J. W. McKinney by Charles McFadden 
as a token of efficient service rendered in the con- 
struction of the West End Tunnel of the Lehigh 
Valley Railroad." 

And now I will tell the story of their trip in Mr. 
Bass's own words as far as possible. 

" I soon found he knew all my friends, and was a 
railroad man. So was I. So, when he asked if he 
might accompany me on my trip I was glad to have 
him do so. I had secured the latest government 
map of the region, and, with plenty of provisions, 
bedding, two guns, our revolvers, and ammunition, 
we started. Each of us had a mare with a young 
colt, and we had a white shepherd dog, and a pack 
burro, which also had a colt. It was the 8th day of 
September, 1884, when we started. For two days 
we met with little or no water. The supply in our 
small canteens gave out, and we were in a bad fix. 
The third day out we found a little more water, 
and entered a region where we passed alternately 
through canyon walls and fertile valleys. On the 
12th we came to a place in the bed of Havasu 
Creek where a large volume of water was held, 
doubtless from some cloud-burst, and our horses 
were so famished for water that they rushed into it 
and would not be restrained, so that they nearly 
drowned. I su2:2:ested we remain here for a few 
days, but McKinney was in a hurry to go on, so 
about four o'clock in the afternoon, filling our can- 
teens and letting the horses drink all they would, 
we started again. That night we made a dry camp, 
and by daylight next morning were once more on 
the move. About ten o'clock we came to where 



THE GRAND CANYON 177 

there were several deep gorges and pretty rough 
travelling, so, leaving the horses and burros in Mc- 
Kinney's care, I went in search of water. I soon 
came across an Indian trail, which led down the 
main gorge, and, following it a little way, came to a 
place in the rocks where there were several small 
water-pockets partially filled with the precious fluid. 

" I returned for McKinney. When he saw the 
spot, he concluded we were not far from the Hava- 
supai village, for from the stories that had been 
told us in Williams when it was known we were 
about to start, we expected to come to the waterfalls 
first, on the crest of which we could stand and look 
down the three hundred feet upon the Indians at 
work in their fields below. The water, we were 
told, came right out from the rocks and dashed over 
the falls. 

"As McKinney was older than I and had had 
some experience, I yielded to him when he expressed 
the determination to go on alone to the village. 
Accordingly he took the rifle and field-glasses, with 
the remark that ' It could n't be far, and he 'd go 
and see if he could find the falls.' Although it was 
now well along towards noon, we had had no break- 
fast, as we had waited for water, so I agreed to go 
back and cook breakfast, and wait his return. I 
did so ; ate my own breakfast, and waited uneasily 
for three hours. Then I had my dinner, and, as he 
still did not come, I began to pack water to the 
animals. 

" McKinney was thinly clad, as it was warm 
weather, and he had on neither coat nor vest. He 
took no blankets, food, nor water with him. 



1/8 IN AND AROUND 

" At this point the bed of Havasu Creek begins 
its descent into the crust of the earth, and is soon 
a canyon about twenty-five feet wide and very deep. 
For two or three miles it grows deeper and deeper, 
and, in places, the walls are so narrow that they 
almost overhang and shut out any but the smallest 
glimpse of the sky overhead. It is a literal canyon. 
In some places great rocks — boulders — have rolled 
in so as to make travelling pretty severe work. 

"That night, as McKinney did not return, I went 
and stayed with the animals, carrying them water 
in the morning in our camp-kettle, dutch-oven, and 
canteens. After I had watered them I found a 
way to bring the horses and our supplies down to 
the water-pockets. Then, after baking bread, I 
went on a hunt for some of the game whose tracks 
I had seen in profusion. There were antelope, 
deer, quail, and rabbits in abundance, and soon I 
had killed all we could eat. 

" By this time I had decided that some accident 
had occurred to McKinney, — he had either been 
bitten by a rattlesnake or had tumbled over some 
bluff or other, and I had better go and hunt for 
him. So I prepared a rope and some bandages, 
filled the canteen, got my gun, prepared provisions, 
and with the revolver in my hands started. I had 
not gone more than a mile or a mile and a half 
when I came to a nest of rattlesnakes, and some of 
these I killed with the gun, thinking the sound of 
the report might warn McKinney that I was coming. 
Soon afterwards I came to a perpendicular jump of 
forty or fifty feet, below which I could see a change 
in the formation from the hard limestone to a white 



THE GRAND CANYON 179 

sandstone. I got down by climbing around, and 
on the sand I saw his tracks. Here, in the bed of 
the canyon, were some walnut and alder trees, and 
some pinions. I walked on to the next bend in 
the canyon, and there saw pony and moccasin 
tracks, which completely obliterated McKinney's. 
This put me into a state of considerable trepidation, 
for common report around Williams said that if a 
man was found anywhere near the Havasupais with 
revolver and cartridges, they would kill him. I con- 
fess I felt afraid both for Mc Kinney and myself, 
and began to think I had seen the last of him. 
Here the can3'^on took a due west turn. Hitherto 
it had been going north, and now it widened out 
and became deeper. As I could now see a long 
way ahead, I determined to go on anyhow, and did 
so, until I heard the noise of falling stones. Looking 
up, I saw an Indian pony on the slopes grazing. 
The tracks in the bed of the canyon were quite 
fresh, and I did n't know but I might run into a band 
of hostile Indians, and, as I was very much afraid 
of rattlesnakes, especially when night came, I decided 
that, as it was growing dusk, I would try to climb 
up the south wall out of the canyon and return to 
camp that way. I had quite a load, — a three-bar- 
relled Baker gun, a six-shooter, medicines, canteen, 
provisions for three or four days, and a long coil of 
rope, — and found it quite a task climbing, but suc- 
ceeded in reaching within about five hundred feet 
of the top, when I came to a perpendicular wall 
with a narrow shelf running along its base. I fol- 
lowed the shelf, until it reached an amphitheatre 
and there broke off abruptly. Directly over my 



i8o IN AND AROUND 

head, but fully twenty-five feet above me, was an 
overhanging angle of rock. This was my only 
hope. I must either get over that, or go back. So, 
with a desperate throw I managed to get the rope 
across the projecting angle so that I could hold on 
to both ends. Fastening all my supplies together 
and tying them on the end of one of the ropes, I 
began the ascent, placing my back against the wall 
and pulling myself up hand over hand. On reach- 
ing a shelf above, I rolled over upon it exhausted 
and nearly insensible, but had presence of mind 
enough to secure myself with the rope. When I 
came to, 1 found one more effort would release me, 
and, gathering all my remaining strength, made it, 
and reached the top just as the sun was going down. 
After a little rest I revived, and fortunately found a 
trail going east. I followed it for a short distance, 
but it was soon quite dark, and, when I entered the 
thick timber I was unable to see it, and before long 
felt myself hopelessly lost for that night, at least. 
As 1 stood, wondering what to do, something white 
came rushing towards me, and in a moment jumped 
upon me with every demonstration of pleasure. It 
was my dog, which I had left at the camp. From 
the time it took us to go — I estimated afterwards 
■ — we were fully seven miles from camp, yet the 
faithful animal went ahead on the trail, and he, 
being white, I was able to see him, and he took me 
safely back, where I camped in security and com- 
fort. 

" Next morning (Sunday) I found the water pretty 
nearly all gone, so baking up a good supply of 
bread and meat, enough to take and enough to 



THE GRAND CANYON i8i 

leave, I sought a smooth place on the limestone, 
where I wrote a bold notice for McKinney, should 
he return, that I had gone to Williams for assist- 
ance and he was to wait here until my return. 
Then, as I noticed that the coyotes were in the 
habit of using this water hole, I hung the food up, 
out of their reach, directing him where to find it, 
and then sorrowfully started back for Williams. 

" That night I travelled until four o'clock in the 
morning, when the burro and one of the colts posi- 
tively refused to go farther, so, stretching out in 
the bed of Havasu Creek, I rested, resuming my 
journey as early as possible before sunrise. At 
noon I came to water, and there camped and rested 
a while, then, taking Williams Mountain as my 
guide, started off again. In two days I reached 
my ranch and cave, watered the stock, and continued 
on to Williams, arriving there about ten o'clock 
at night. I went directly to the restaurant where 
I had met McKinney, and found the proprietor 
about to retire. I was wild and rough in appearance, 
mentally worried almost to death with the distress 
and harassment of the past few days, and worn out 
with the hardships I had endured. My lips were 
swollen and cracked, and my tongue so black and 
thick I could scarcely have spoken had I had the 
strength. Unable to eat, I managed to make known 
my want for a bottle of beer or some other gentle 
stimulant. 

" The proprietor and one or two guests took 
me, at first, for a crazy man, but as soon as the 
former recognized me, he cried out : ' What ! You 
back already .? Where's McKinney .? ' 



1 82 IN AND AROUND 

" ' He 's lost,' i whispered thickly. 

" ' Lost ! How 's that ? ' 

" As fast as I gained strength I explained, and said 
I wanted to go right back next day with a party to 
find him. Then, caring for the animals and walk- 
ing over to my own house, I was soon asleep in bed. 
The next morning it was about nine o'clock before 
I got out, and went immediately to find some one 
to go with me to find McKinney. No one seemed 
anxious to go, and I soon noticed groups of men 
looking suspiciously towards me, talking earnestly 
as I came up, but remaining ominously still when I 
approached. 

" After I had talked pretty roughly to some of 
them about their cowardice in leaving a man to 
perish without any attempt to find or rescue him 
from hostile Indians (had he fallen into their hands), 
a number of them agreed to be ready to start with 
me at four o'clock that afternoon. When the time 
came, however, there were but four who were ready 
to go. These were the Justice of the Peace and 
ex-officio Coroner, Scott, a carpenter named Hurd, 
who claimed to be an expert trailer, a doctor named 
Mason, and an Irishman named Baggott. That 
night we went to my cave and stayed there, and 
next day travelled as fast as we could, reaching the 
water in Havasu Creek where I had previously 
camped. Then, the following day, about two 
o'clock, we reached our camp. As we had brought 
plenty of water with us, w^e prepared a meal, and 
as soon as it was eaten Scott desired me to take 
himself and Hurd to the spot where I had lost 
McKinney. I took them to the place, and when 



THE GRAND CANYON 183 

we arrived they were determined to go on into the 
canyon that night. I explained the difficulties of 
the descent and urged the propriety of their going 
around by the trail and down that way. Hurd was 
emphatic in insisting that they go straight down. 
They could climb out anywhere, the ignorant fool 
claimed, and, more preposterous still, he said 
Baggott and I could follow them along the rim of 
the canyon and throw blankets and food down to 
them if it was found impossible to reach the village 
that night. They went on, and I returned up the 
trail with Dr. Mason to the camp. When we got 
about half-way up, the doctor, who was troubled 
with heart disease, was taken sick. I cared for him 
as well as I could, and as he began to recover he 
turned to me and said, ' Bass, I feel sorry for you. 
I 'm going to tell you something, but I don't want 
you to give me away.' Then, as I gazed at him 
in amazement, he continued : ' The people in Wil- 
liams think you killed McKinney, and they have 
sent me to perform an autopsy on his body, Scott, 
the Justice and Coroner, to hold an inquest, and 
Hurd as an expert trailer to find the body if you 've 
tried to dispose of it. Our orders are to bring you 
back to Williams anyhow. They were talking 
pretty earnestly about hanging you before we left, 
and you had a narrower escape than you imagine. 
But Scott persuaded them to wait until we 'd been 
out to see the body. That 's why those fellows are 
so determined to go into the canyon to-night. 
They expect to find McKinney's body somewhere 
down there.' 

" You can imagine the anger, amazement, and 



i84 IN AND AROUND 

horror with which I heard these words. It was 
the first intimation I had received of anything of 
the kind. I had noticed the ugly looks of the men 
in Williams, but it never occurred to me that the 
dastardly wretches imagined I had killed McKinney. 

" But the doctor continued, ' Report has it that 
McKinney had a very valuable watch and four hun- 
dred dollars.' 

" The contemptible suggestion implied in these 
words so infuriated me that I started back after 
Scott and Hurd with the exclamation, ' I '11 go with 
them,' but the doctor was so sick and nervous that, 
yielding to his earnest solicitations, I returned with 
him to camp. 

" By this time I began to feel somewhat distressed 
about Scott and Hurd; I knew they had little or 
no food or water, and that they were in far greater 
danger than they imagined. So, though Dr. Mason 
and Baggott hated to move, and I knew it was not 
the best thing to do, I decided to follow along the 
rim of the canyon as Scott and Hurd had asked 
us to do, ready, to help them should any emergency 
arise. I did not want it to be said afterwards that 
I would leave those fellows in danger, even though 
they were hunting evidence to hang me. So we 
started along by the rim, ready to ' throw down 
provisions and blankets' as Hurd, — poor simple- 
ton ! — had suggested. As it became dark we came 
to a side canyon which, though so narrow that we 
could throw a stone across it, took us so long to 
ride around that by the time we reached the other 
side it was dark. Baggott and I now went to 
the edge of the main canyon and fired, waiting for 



THE GRAND CANYON 185 

a return signal, as agreed upon, from Scott and 
Hurd below. But we saw and heard nothing, so 
returned to Dr. Mason and camped. The doctor 
was dreadfully afraid of hostile Indians, and Baggott 
was worse, appealing every moment in most piteous 
tones to the ' Blessed Virgin and all the howly saints 
to protect him.' He went out and staked the 
horses, but somehow staked them so that the ropes 
crossed. We had not been long in our blankets 
before some mountain sheep came and stampeded 
the horses. We discovered next morning what 
animals they were from their tracks. Poor Bag- 
got was too terrified to yell. He sat up on his 
blankets and fervently prayed to the ' Howly Saint 
Peter and the Blessed Howly Mother' to save him 
from being scalped alive. When I got out to the 
horses I found them pretty badly mixed up, and 
had to cut the ropes ere they could be straightened 
out. Then Dr. Mason wished me to come and 
sleep by him with the gun in my hand. 

" Next morning we decided to go back to the 
water in Havasu Creek and stay until Scott and 
Hurd came back. We left bedding, provisions, and 
water at the camp, and a note saying where we had 
gone, and then started on the twenty-five miles 
return. It was night-time when we reached the 
place, but just light enough to see that the water 
was covered with ducks, some of which we killed. 
The following morning I made a pot-pie while 
Mason and Baggott slept, and then, when they 
arose, we three sat around it and were enjoying 
the delicacy when we heard a horse coming. Look- 
ing up, there stood an Indian before us and an- 



i86 



IN AND AROUND 



other one following. I grabbed my gun and the 
doctor his, while Baggott ' hollered' and then fainted. 
I held my gun as if to fire, when the Indian stopped 
me by raising his hands and showing me that he 
had no gun. Then I lowered mine and went up 




Near where McKinney was found by the Havasupais. 



to him. He gave me his hand, and when we had 
shaken hands I motioned him from his horse, and 
invited him to eat. 

" The other Indian was his son, a lad of some 
twelve or fourteen years. After he had had a 
hearty repast he began to talk, — which of course 
we did not understand, — and to make marks in the 
sand, which latter, combined with his gestures, soon 
informed us that the Havasupais had found Scott 



THE GRAND CANYON 187 

and Hurd, nearly dead, and, at their request had 
guided them back to the camp, where they earnestly 
requested us to return and fetch them. As well as 
I was able I asked about McKinney, — a third man 
who was lost some time previous. To my joy, the 
Indian explained that he also was found, and, thrust- 
ing his tongue out of his mouth and rolling his 
eyes, he indicated the fearful condition of distress 
in which the poor fellow was discovered. After 
he had rested with the Indians for three days, 
and had been most hospitably entertained, feasting 
on their peaches, which were ripe at the time, 
the Havasupais had sent him back by way of the 
Black Tank Trail to Williams in the company of 
two prospectors who had been in their canyon. 
This Indian had helped care for him, and had not 
only loaned him a horse, but had given him a 
blanket and provisions, for which McKinney had 
promised him a good army overcoat, which he was 
now on his way to Williams for. The doctor's 
horse being lame and he too sick to go back to the 
canyon, and his fear of the Indian considerably 
reduced after hearing of the treatment of McKin- 
ney and the others, he decided to go on with him 
to Williams, while Baggott and I started back. On 
the return trip Baggott lost two blankets — one 
of Scott's and one of Hurd's — through his careless 
failure to properly cinch his horse's saddle. He 
went back to find them, but failed to do so. In his 
distress at what he expected of the anger of Scott 
and Hurd, he said, 'Shure, and what '11 I do .f* ' 
With a laugh of sarcasm I suggested, ' Tell them 
you threw them down into the canyon wrapped 



1 88 IN AND AROUND 

around some provisions.' The suggestion de- 
lighted Baggott. ' Begorra, that 's fvvhat I '11 do.' 

" Here let me anticipate my story a little just to 
say that this was exactly the yarn Baggott told when 
the two men discovered the absence of their blan- 
kets. 'Fwhat!' exclaimed he, 'didn't ye tell Bass 
and me to throw you some provisions wrapped up 
in a blanket ? And did n't I wrap up a jack rabbit 
in the one, and a loaf of bread in the other, and 
throw them down the canyon to you?' And to 
this day, as far as I know, the Justice and his com- 
panion know nothing to the contrary. 

" Now to resume the thread of the narrative. 
When Baggott and I reached the camp neither Scott 
nor Hurd were in sight. Going down to the water 
hole to find them, I met Scott coming alone. 

" ' You 're a nice man, you are, sent out to trail 
me to death and never to say a word to me about 
it,' was the salutation I met him with. He turned 
paler than his privations had made him as he re- 
plied : ' I had to promise those fellows in Williams 
that I would be responsible for your return or they 
would never have let you leave town. They would 
have hung you there and then ! ' 

" Believing that perhaps he spoke the truth I left 
him, and went on to meet Hurd. As he approached 
I levelled my revolver on him and said : ' Before you 
come another step farther up this trail I 'm going 
to find out who sent you on this trip and what they 
sent you for! ' He began to stammer out some lie 
or other, but I stopped him. ' It 's no use your 
lying. You came here to trail me to my death. 
I 've got the drop on you. Now tell me all about 



THE GRAND CANYON 189 

it, and tell me quick.' Without further hesitation 
he named over the men who had sent him. They 
said I had undoubtedly murdered McKinney, and 
he was to come and find the body and help bring 
me back to Williams to suffer for the crime. 

" ' What did you find out ? ' I asked. 

" ' That all you said was true, and if it had n't 
been for the Injuns we 'd have lost our lives, — Scott 
and me. We found a squaw gathering prickly 
pears ; we were without food and water. I could n't 
follow no trail down there, and I wanted to go back 
long before, only Scott would n't let me. Just be- 
fore I seed the squaw, I thought I was dying, and 
I besfSfed her to Q:et me some " awa," but she no 
sabbied. I took hold of her olla, but there was no 
water in it, but when she seed I wanted water 
she fetched us some from a spring. Then she 
took us to where there was some ponies, and we 
catched them, and she showed us the way to the 
village, and the next day the Injuns brought us up 
here.' 

" That was the man's story. 

" Well, the upshot of the whole thing was, we 
returned to Williams, and when I went into the 
saloon, there stood McKinney behind the bar. He 
asked me to drink with him, but I refused. ' I 
don't have to drink with a man like you. You 
went off and left me, and never even thought it 
worth while to send an Indian after me. I might 
have starved, or been killed, or worried to death for 
fear of what had become of you, for aught you would 
have cared.' 

" ' Well,' said McKinney, ' I did n't think ! ' 



190 IN AND AROUND 

" ' No ! ' I replied, ' You did n't, and your not 
thinking nearly got me hung. I 've lost my time 
and my grub, and did n't get to see the Havasupais 
after all. I want nothing more to do with a man 
like you.' 

"That night McKinney took the train and left, 
and has never been seen here since. The boys 
went in and joked him so, as soon as they knew 
the facts, that he thought he had better clear out. 
That, sir, was my first attempt to reach the Hava- 
supai village. 

" My next attempt was more successful. I went 
the following March with a man named Miller, and 
it was on that trip that I met Tom, the second chief 
of the tribe. Tom took me to his ' ha-wa,' and to 
a mine that I asked him to show me. He was 
taken sick while I was there, and I gave him some 
medicine that helped him. He said, ' White man's 
medicine heap good. Havasupai medicine no 
good.' He took a liking to me, and said he 'd come 
and see me the next time he came to Williams. 
He did so, and I returned to the canyon with him, 
and many times after that we went in or out to- 
gether. He made the other Indians friendly to me, 
as you know they are. On one of my earliest trips 
he took me to the Grand Canyon, and from that 
moment my interest in it at that spot has grown, 
for I immediately saw the great scenic advantages 
this portion possessed over every other that I had 
seen. 

" My first trip to the Grand Canyon was in the 
fall of 1883. I was following some wild cattle in 
the neighborhood of Rain Tanks, and, riding after 



THE GRAND CANYON 191 

them at full speed, came out of the timber all of a 
sudden upon the very brink of the Canyon. It 
nearly scared me to death. 

" Then, later on that same year, as I was going 
from Flagstaff to the Moenkopie Wash, to trade 
with the Moki Indians, I fell in with Major 
Miner and his party for a few hours, as they were 
blazing the trail to the Canyon, which was since 
largely followed in the construction of the Flag- 
staff stage road." 

A visit was made to the Canyon then and later, 
down the Tanner-French trail, as related in the 
chapter devoted to that trail. 

Mr. Bass's interest in the Havasupai Indians once 
aroused, it was ever after exercised — as it still is — 
on their behalf. He began to work with his accus- 
tomed energy and directness to interest the Indian 
department to establish a school and send a teacher 
and farmer to Havasu Canyon to teach the Hava- 
supais good citizenship and good farming. I was 
present when, ten years ago. Agent McCowan was 
sent out as a Special Commissioner by the depart- 
ment, 7iot to establish a school in their own canyon, as 
the Indians desired and Mr. Bass had suggested, but 
to induce the Havasupai chiefs and heads of families 
to send their children to the Indian School at Fort 
Mohave. Elsewhere I have described the way this 
offer was received and refused. But though the 
Havasupais rejected this offer, it was Mr. Bass's kind 
efforts in their behalf that had secured it to them, 
and he it was who patiently and persistently worked 
for what was ultimately attained, — a teacher, a 
schoolhouse, and a farmer of their own. 



192 IN AND AROUND 

When he first visited them their universal cus- 
tom was to burn their dead, destroying at the same 
time some of the most valuable property and pos- 
sessions of the deceased. It was Mr. Bass's in- 
fluence upon Tom and the other Indian leaders that 
led to their change of this custom. I have been 
present several times when Tom has lectured or 
harangued his fellows on the extravagant and useless 
waste of their cremation customs and urged them 
to follow the advice of their white friend, Bass, and 
bury their dead. When the Havasupais agreed to 
follow the white man's custom, the news was carried 
to the relative Wallapais by the medicine men, who 
were opposed to the innovation. They thought it 
meant a subversion of their power, and a bringing 
of their dynasty to a speedy end, so they stirred 
up the chiefs and medicine men of the Wallapais, 
who paid a visit to their cousins of Havasu to 
confer with them and endeavor to lead them back 
to the time-honored customs of their ancestors. 
Dances and pow-wows were held, and such excite- 
ment reigned that even the white men of the mining 
region near and in Kingman heard of it, and, dread- 
ing lest some attack upon the whites was being 
planned, they sent peace messengers to find out 
what was the matter. These were returned with 
the messafje to the white men to mind their own 
business. They were considering how to dispose 
of their dead, and that was an affair that concerned 
themselves alone. In spite of dances and argu- 
ments the progressive party, led by Tom, largely 
prevailed, and cremation received its first great blow 
among the Havasupais. Mr. R. C. Bauer, of the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



193 



Indian Service, continued the good work thus begun, 
until now interment is the rule and cremation the 
exception. 

As a token of the great esteem in which he held 
his white brother, Chief Tom presented Mr. Bass 
with the finest Indian pony in the possession of the 




W. W. Bass and his Indian Pony, Silver. 



tribe. Silver, though growing old, is still an hon- 
ored member of Mr. Bass's equine family, and he 
may consider himself specially favored who is per- 
mitted at any time to ride Tom's gift. 

That Mr. Bass has not outworn his Indian friend- 
ship, is evidenced from the facts I have observed 
again and again when he visits Havasupai Canyon. 
The Indians will come to meet him, and, on his 

13 



194 IN AND AROUND 

arrival, a perfect crowd of men, women, and children 
come around to give him a word of welcome, and 
hear his welcome to them. His horses are taken 
to the best pastures, and the fruit picked from the 
best peach trees, and the finest corn gathered for 
the occasion. Indians of any tribe are not in the 
habit of treating other than those they know to be 
their friends in this demonstrative manner. 

His endeavors to make the Canyon accessible at 
the points his judgment deemed most attractive 
have cost him many thousands of dollars, years of 
herculean labors, harassing worries, and dreadful 
privations, that would have daunted and disheart- 
ened almost any other man. He had a wagon road 
surveyed and built from Williams, and, when he 
found an easier grade and better conditions from 
Ashfork, he made thirty-five miles of new road to 
connect with his Williams road midway to the Can- 
yon, starting from the new point, Ashfork. The 
Williams road, and the regular stage which he ran 
over it, were the first set in operation to accommo- 
date tourists. 

To provide against the dry season of Arizona, 
when water for stock and personal use is of the 
highest importance, he has constructed dams in 
Havasu Creek, blasted out a number of cisterns in 
the solid surface rock, and has now stored in his 
reservoirs or cisterns hundreds of thousands of 
barrels of water. There is no enterprise of its kind 
in this semi-barren country so well provided with 
water as are the stage stations, hotel camps, and 
trails in the Canyon controlled by Mr. Bass. 

The Mystic Spring Trail, though reaching into 



THE GRAND CANYON 195 

the Canyon, where the Havasupais for centuries 
have been constant visitors, is, practically, of Mr. 
Bass's engineering and construction. From the 
lower plateau to the river, he both engineered and 
constructed it at great expense and labor. The 
trail as a whole, as elsewhere described, I regard as 
the finest in the Canyon, and one down which man, 
woman, or child may ride almost every foot of the 
way with perfect safety. 

One would have thought these were abundant 
labors for any man who had " his own living to 
make," but Mr. Bass has been public spirited 
enough several times to set in motion national 
legislation for the benefit of the Grand Canyon or 
the people of Arizona. Noticing the serious injury 
to the water supply of the territory — limited at its 
best — caused by the unrestricted cutting of the 
timber, he personally circulated a petition (in which 
work I had the honor to be able somewhat to assist 
him) calling upon the Secretary of the Interior to 
declare certain named portions of the territory 
timber reserves. This effort was successful, and 
the San Francisco Forest Reserve was duly estab- 
lished. Then, when the miners of the territory 
complained that the Forest Reserve law precluded 
the possibility of their continuing their search for 
the precious minerals in the Grand Canyon, he suc- 
cessfully circulated another petition, which had its 
due effect in setting in motion the change in, or 
addition to, the law, which now permits all legitimate 
mining upon United States Government Forest 
Reserves. 

It should not be forgotten that to Mr. Bass is 



196 IN AND AROUND 

owing the correction of an error that for years was 
perpetrated by the mendacity of the Flagstaff 
guides. That was that the Point Sublime of Cap- 
tain Dutton was seen from Navaho, Ute, Co- 
manche, and Paiuti Points, when, in reality, the 
point thus designated was Cape Final. Even such 
a careful writer as Charles Dudley Warner was led 
into the error of stating that " the point where we 
struck the Grand Canyon, approaching it from the 
south, is opposite the promontory in the Kaibab 
Plateau named Point Sublime by Major Powell, 
just north of the 36th parallel, and 112 degrees, 15 
minutes west longitude." 

This passage contains two misstatements. Point 
Sublime is not in sight at any of the outlooks 
reached from Flagstaff, and it was given that name 
by Captain Dutton and not by Major Powell. 

Point Sublime is to be seen from Hopi Point, 
and is slightly to the right of Havasupai Point, 
across the river. 




o 

Oh 
< 

u 

H 



THE GRAND CANYON 197 



CHAPTER XVn 

THE SHINUMO AND ITS ANCIENT INHABITANTS 

LOOKING clown from Bass Camp, across the 
river, slightly to the left of the Tilts, the 
interested observer will notice a small o^ash in 
the rocks, coming down from the Gray and Crim- 
son Ridsfes to the heart of the Inner Gors^e. This 
gash is the lower portion of the gorge of the Shin- 
umo Creek, one of the most beautiful streams of 
water that flow into the Colorado River. Alto- 
gether unlike the streams that enter from the south 
side, — as the Little Colorado and the Havasu 
(Cataract) Creek, — the northern creeks that come 
from the high forest regions of the Kaibab Plateau, 
or from canyon springs that have their origin in 
the deep snows that fall on that elevated region in 
winter, are clear, pure, and beautiful from source to 
mouth, while those that flow from south to north 
are muddy and dirty. Necessarily, during stormy 
weather, the north creeks, becoming charged with 
sand and dirt, and decomposing minerals and rocks, 
change their character, and for the time are almost 
as dirty as the Little Colorado, but a few hours 
after the storms have ceased they speedily return to 
their pristine freshness and beauty. 

For many years I have been hearing of the beauty 
of the Shinumo, the purity of its waters, the charm 



198 IN AND AROUND 

of its willow-fringed creek, the interest of its cliff- 
dwellings and prehistoric irrigating ditches and 
gardens, and — fascinating but repulsive — the 
stories of human selfishness, murder, and cannibal- 
ism that have desecrated its beauties and native 
sanctity. Several years ago, an Indian brought out 
from one of the cliff-dwellings an exquisitely shaped 
large olla, fashioned exactly after one of the common 
oriental patterns. It was perfect in every way. 
Mr. Bass purchased it, and it now holds a promi- 
nent place in the ancient pottery department of 
Mrs. T. S. C. Lowe's museum, in Pasadena, Cali- 
fornia. 

These things necessarily sharpened my desires to 
fully explore this interesting Shinumo Canyon, and 
in August and September of 1899 I determined to 
give a few days to a preliminary survey. My time, 
unfortunately, was limited, so it is of but a small 
portion of the Shinumo I can write from personal 
knowledge. 

Leaving Bass Camp, the trail is taken to Bed 
Rock Camp, and from there a side trail leads to the 
river crossing. Here was a rude boat, roughly 
made of rougher lumber, and the seams everywhere 
open, in cracks one-eighth of an inch in thickness. 
The only calking materials we had were pieces of 
cotton clothes-line, and with these the rude punt 
was made a litUe less leaky. After a few hours' 
soaking Dad and I ventured. The roar of the near- 
by rapids below, and the swift flowing of the cur- 
rent, nerved my arms to their best endeavor as I 
pulled steadily at the oars. We made the trip 
across with comparative ease. After unloading the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



199 



bedding, provisions, tools, camera, etc., we towed 
the boat up to a point considerably higher than the 
landing place on the south side, where our two com- 
panions awaited the return of the boat with interest, 
not unmixed with anxiety. But by this time the 




Crossing thk Colorado River to the Shinumo. 



punt held over a foot of water, and this had to be 
baled out. At last we were ready. A squall w^as 
threatening, and the wind came in fitful gusts and 
flurries down the Canyon, and as we started, one 
of these flurries caught us in such a way that we 
shipped considerable water. Then, to add to the 
discomfort, — and possible danger, — just as I began 
to pull, one end of my seat slipped from its support, 
and sent me sliding sideways to the bottom of the 
boat. But there was neither time nor opportunity 



200 IN AND AROUND 

for readjustment. The rapids were roaring, the 
river flowing, and we gliding down with a rapidity, 
at that moment, that seemed ahiiost appalhng; so, 
righting myself as well as I could, cramped up in 
the uncomfortable position that can better be 
imagined than described, I rowed, while Dad pad- 
dled, and, in a few minutes, once again we stepped 
ashore in safety. 

This time we did n't attempt to bale out the boat. 
The four of us ran it high and dry on the rocks, and, 
tipping it over, thus got rid of the surplus water. 

Again we took our seats: Dad, with paddle at 
bow, one man at the stern, and the other on a seat 
before me, his knees touching mine. Poor fellow, 
his face was pale and his lips quivered, and he held 
on like grim death, but, plucky and brave, never 
said a word or made a move to distress or hinder us. 
It was with a deep sigh of pleasure, however, that we 
reached the north shore in safety, and the perils of 
the roaring " Hackataia" were over. 

Two miles over a prehistoric trail, passing one 
or two ancient ruins, and, crossing over two long 
stretches of weather-worn boulders where the trail 
had been blazed, who knows how many centuries 
ago, by pounding rocks upon rocks, obtaining a 
glimpse of one of the worst rapids of the Colorado 
River, and finally dropping down over a bluff of 
shattered metamorphic rocks to the very brink of the 
Shinumo, we found the rude camp which was to be 
our headquarters for the few following days. 

And what a delicious night's rest I enjoyed ! 
Lulled by the steady murmur of the stream, — not 
a loud, sullen, angry roar, as of the Colorado, but a 



THE GRAND CANYON 



20I 



gentle, soothing babble, — accompanied with enough 
stirring of the air to temper the heat gendered in 
the rocks by the ardent wooing of the sun during 
the day, I could not have failed to rest, although I 
had no other pillow than a judicious combination of 
camera-case, shoes, 
overalls, and focus- 
sine: cloth, and one 
comforter and a 
blanket for a bed. I 
slept soundl y and 
awoke refreshed, 
ready to begin a 
study of the Shinumo, 
which I hope I shall 
be able before long to 
continue. 

The Shinumo is 
from twelve to fifteen 
miles in length. It 
has two upper forks, 
one of which heads 
behind Bass Tomb, 

and the other to the northeast in a canyon of the 
Shinumo Amphitheatre, the rich green of which can 
be seen clearly from any of the points near Bass 
Camp on the south side. These two forks unite at 
the corner of Shaler Pyramid. The stream con- 
tinues south for a distance, curves to the west, and 
flows between Bass Tomb and Dox Castle, to be 
shortly joined by White Creek, a small stream that 
winds around in Muav Canyon from beyond Button 
Point to add its water to the Shinumo slightly to 




Copyright, 1899, by F. H. Maude. 



Rocky Pillar at the Mouth 
OF THE Shinumo. 



202 



IN AND AROUND 



the northeast of the Gray and Crimson Ridges. It is 
about two miles from here to Bass's Shinumo Camp, 
and another mile to the junction with the Colorado 
River, where, unfortunately, its sweet, pure, clean 
water is immediately lost in the sandy, dirty Red. 




On the Shinumo. 



All alono; its banks from river to hiirhest reaches 
are constant evidences of early human occupancy. 
A few yards above Shinumo Camp is a heap of 
ruins similar to those found throughout Arizona 
and New Mexico, showing clearly that they were 
once human residences. Near here the remains of 
an ancient irrigating ditch were found, which since 
have been utilized to convey water to a prehis- 
toric garden. In the rocks to the right of this 



THE GRAND CANYON 



203 



garden, which is about a quarter of a mile below 
the camp, are two interesting and curious little 
food caches. These are circular structures, built 
exactly after the general plan of cliff -dwellings, in 
suitable niches of the rocks, but of so tiny and 
diminutive a character as to have puzzled beyond 
any hope of explanation those earliest wanderers 
into such hidden regions, — the gold prospectors. 
All the w^ay up the canyon similar food caches may 
be found, some of them in places that, to-day, are 
absolutely inaccessible, others where a little climb- 
ing can comfortably reach them. These are similar, 
in size, build, and general appearance, to those found 
in Havasu (Cataract) Canyon, and which the Hava- 
supais explain were used by their long-time-back 
ancestors as corn storehouses. Mescal pits are 
also found in large numbers, showing that the 
gathering of the mescal, macerating, and cooking it, 
were here carried on extensively. 

The Indians tell me that on the northeast fork 
are a large number of cliff-dwellings, also a few in 
the Canyon of the Bright Angel. The latter Major 
Powell discovered and briefly described. 



204 



IN AND AROUND 




CHAPTER XVIII 

PEACH SPRINGS TRAIL 

THE nearest point on the Santa Fe main line 
from which the Grand Canyon may be 
reached is Peach Springs, an insignificant station 

eighty-seven miles 
west of Williams, and 
four hundred and 
twenty-three east of 
Los Angeles. But 
the scenery is so in- 
ferior, compared with 
that of any of the 
points elsewhere de- 
scribed, that only 
when it is found im- 
possible to go to these 
points is a visitor jus- 
tified in seeing the 
Grand Canyon at a 
spot where its ma- 
Ax THE Mouth of Diamond Creek jestyand grandeur are 
IN THE Grand Canyon. i r ^ \/' . -i • 

SO dwarfed. Vet this 

is an historic trail. 

The Peach Springs Canyon has been so worked 

upon that one can drive all the way to the mouth 

of Diamond Creek, which unites with Peach Springs 








THE GRAND CANYON 



205 



Canyon a very short distance from the river. Lieu- 
tenant Ives visited the Grand Canyon at this point 
in 1858, and the following is his description: — 

"This morning (April 3, 1858) we left the valley and 
followed the coarse of a creek down a ravine, in the bed 
of which the water at intervals sank and rose for two or three 
miles, when it altogether disappeared. The ravine soon 
attained the proportions of a canyon. The bottom was 
rocky and irregular, and there were some jump-ofifs over 
which it was hard to make the pack animals pass. The 
vegetation began to disappear, leaving only a few stunted 
cedars projecting from the sides of the rugged bluffs. 
The place grew wilder and grander. The sides of the 
tortuous canyon became loftier, and before long we were 
hemmed in by walls two thousand feet high. The scenery 
much resembled that in the Black Canyon, excepting that 
the rapid descent, the increasing magnitude of the colossal 
piles that blocked the end of the vista, and the correspond- 
ing depth and gloom of the gaping chasms into which we 
were plunging, imparted an unearthly character to a way 
that might have resembled the portals of the infernal 
regions. Harsh screams issuing from aerial recesses in 
the canyon sides, and apparitions of goblin-like figures 
perched in the rifts and hollows of the impending cliffs, 
gave an odd reality to this impression. At short distances 
other avenues of equally magnificent proportions came 
in from one side or the other; and no trail being left on 
the rocky pathway, the idea suggested itself that were the 
guides to desert us our experience might further resemble 
that of the dwellers in the unblest abodes, — in the difficulty 
of getting out. 

" Huts of the rudest construction, visible here and there 
in some sheltered niche or beneath a projecting rock, 
and the sight of a hideous old squaw staggering under 
a bundle of fuel, showed that we had penetrated into the 
domestic retreats of the Wallapais nation. Our party 



2o6 



IN AND AROUND 



being, in all probability, the first company of whites that 
had ever been seen by them, we had anticipated producing 
a great effect, and were a little chagrined when the old 
woman, and two or three others of both sexes that were 
met, went by without taking the slightest notice of us. If 
pack-trains had been in the habit of passing twenty times 




Powell Pyramid at the Foot of Peach Springs Trail. 



a day they could not have manifested a more complete 
indifference. 

"Seventeen miles of this strange travel had now been ac- 
complished. The road was becoming more difficult, and 
we looked ahead distrustfully into the dark and apparently 
interminable windings, and wondered where we were to find 
a camping place. At last we struck a wide branch canyon 
coming in from the south, and saw with joyful surprise 
a beautiful and brilliantly clear stream of water gushing 
over a pebbly bed in the centre, and shooting from between 
the rocks in sparkling jets and miniature cascades. On 



THE GRAND CANYON 207 

cither side was an oasis of verdure, — young willows and a 
thick patch of grass. Camp was speedily formed, and men 
and mules have had a welcome rest after their fatiguing 
journey. 

" A hundred yards below the camp the canyon takes a 
turn ; but as it was becoming very dark, all further ex- 
aminations were postponed till to-morrow. In the course 
of the evening Ireteba came into my tent, and I asked him 
how far we had still to travel before reaching the great river. 
To my surprise he informed me that the mouth of the creek 
is only a few yards below the turn, and that we are now 
camped just on the verge of the Big Canyon of the Colorado. 

" A short walk down the bed of Diamond Creek, on the 
morning after we had reached it, verified the statement 
of Ireteba, and disclosed the famous Colorado canyon. 
The view from the ridge, beyond the creek to which the 
Wallapais had first conducted us, had shown that the 
plateaux farther north and east were several thousand feet 
higher than that through which the Colorado cuts at this 
point, and the canyons proportionally deeper ; but the 
scene was sufficiently grand to well repay for the labor of 
the descent. The Canyon was similar in character to 
others that have been mentioned, but on a larger scale, 
and thus far unrivalled in grandeur. The course of the 
river could be traced for only a few hundred yards, above 
or below, but what had been seen from the tableland 
showed that we were at the apex of a great southern bend. 
The walls, on either side, rose directly out of the water. 
The river was about fifty yards wide. The channel was 
studded with rocks, and the torrent rushed through like 
a mill-race." 

For some years an irregular stage was run from 
Peach Springs, and a rude lumber hotel was erected 
at the mouth of Diamond Creek for the accommo- 
dation of visitors to the Canyon. The distance is 
twenty-four and a half miles. 



2o8 IN AND AROUND 

What might have been a most tragic incident oc- 
curred from this trail. In October, 1894, Charles L. 
Potter, First Lieutenant of Engineers, United States 
Army, wrote in the hotel register as follows : — 

" Being ordered to make an examination of the Colo- 
rado River from the mouth of the Virgen River to Yuma, 
I had to choose between two ways to get to the mouth of 
the Virgen. To pull up from the Needles, which would 
take ten days, or ship ni}' boat via Peach Springs to this 
place and go down. I have chosen the latter as cheaper 
and quicker, and I hope it may prove so. The members 
of my party are M. F. Davis, Lieutenant Fourth Cavalry 
(out for fun), B. S. Weaver, Needles, and John Golden, 
Needles." 

Later H. S. K. writes, referring to Lieutenant 
Potter's " cheaper and quicker " : — 

" It proved to be both. Party was shipwrecked seven- 
teen miles below mouth of Diamond Creek and had to 
walk sixty-five miles to Hackberry. They are satisfied to 
do their boating on some other river now." 

Lieutenant Davis afterwards described some of 
the adventures the party experienced. They had 
difficulty in letting the boat down over the first 
rapids, and then, in accordance with what some one 
had told them, who knew less of the river than they 
did, they settled down to enjoy seventy-five miles of 
smooth water. When nightfall came they had had 
several narrow escapes and had shot fifteen rapids. 
The second day was nearly as bad, but the third 
day proved their Bull Run. They came to a rapid 
where, for a mile, the river changed to a mass of 
angry, roaring, hissing foam. Emptying the boat. 



THE GRAND CANYON 209 

Lieutenant Potter and his two men carried every- 
thing over' a perilous trail to a point below the 
rapids. This took nearly all day. Then Lieu- 
tenant Davis, in accordance with the prearranged 
plan, turned the boat loose and let it shoot the 
rapid empty and unguided. Ten minutes after he 
released it, it shot by Lieutenant Potter like a race- 
horse. 

There was no alternative now but to swim or 
climb out, so, with provisions, a blanket each and 
fire-arms, they started, following the trail of a " big 
horn." He says : — 

" Sometimes our path was one hundred feet wide, some- 
times for one hundred feet we had scarcely six inches to 
cling to. In the latter situation our sensations were hor- 
rible. Over one thousand feet below us yawned the black 
chasm ; beneath us the rock was treacherous and slippery. 
It was always level, always the same dizzy height from the 
white, brawling stream below. 

" For twenty-two miles we followed this dangerous trail. 
Then with feelings of joy we emerged upon the Wallapai 
Desert. We were three days in crossing this. We had 
plenty of water and provisions, but the men's shoes had 
given out and they suffered greatly from the hot sand and 
the cacti. On the third day we reached the railroad and 
were taken up." 

It was at this point that Robert Brewster Stanton 
reniained ten days, recuperating and getting sup- 
plies from the railroad ere proceeding on his peril- 
ous but successful trip. He says that Diamond 
Creek is fifty-three miles from the mouth of the 
Grand Canyon. 

14 



2IO 



IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XIX 

LEE'S FERRY AND THE JOURNEY THITHER 

THE ride from Winslow to Lee's Ferry and the 
adventures and experiences connected there- 
with form one of the great memories of my life. 




>-r^S3-' 



i'^i 




( ofyrzght by George Wharton James. 

On the Way to Lee's Ferry. 

I shall not attempt to give them in detail. A few 
will give a true picture of an historic section near 
the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado River 
of which few people have any conception. 

My driver to this memorable spot was Franklin 
French, an old pioneer, born in Boston, Massachu- 



THE GRAND CANYON 211 

setts, whose life had been spent in the West, and 
who would have been a character for Dickens or 
Bret Harte. He was good company, especially over 
the desert country we had to drive. The first por- 
tion of the journey I went ahead in another wagon. 

Crossing Red Lake, dry at this season of the 
year, we came to a slough, which ordinarily is dry, 
but now was filled up with the fine dust blown in 
by the never-quiet wind of this region, all moistened 
into a soft and yielding mud by a small stream that 
made a channel for itself as it sluggishly flowed. 
John, the driver of the first wagon, on the front seat 
of which I sat with him, was busy at the moment 
we reached this treacherous slough, expounding 
some mining problems to me, and, expecting the 
moist-looking red mud was the coarse sand gen- 
erally found, and which easily bears up & heavily 
loaded wagon, he recklessly drove on. In a 
moment leaders and wheelers were floundering 
deep in the quagmire ; horses wildly leaping and 
striving to extricate themselves, the mules wisely 
resting as they fell, waiting until the slush around 
them settled somewhat. In the mean time John 
and myself slipped off all our nether garments and 
jumped into the yielding mud to release the 
animals from the harness. As soon as they were 
free, it was not many moments before they stood 
on the opposite side of the slough. A chain and 
double-trees were now brought from the rear wagon, 
fastened to the end of our submerged wagon-pole, 
the four animals harnessed, and John took the 
lines! ! ! ! ! ! 

Reader, do you know what those six exclamation 



212 IN AND AROUND 

points mean ? Did you ever hear an Arizona 
pioneer drive mules? — especially when he was 
mad ? More especially when his wagon was stuck 
in such a horrible mess as we had fallen into ? Most 
especially when for his nether garments was sub- 
stituted a coatinor of red mud an inch thick? 

In my varied experiences I have heard skilled 
artists in profanity, but compared with this man 
they were but in the kindergarten, and he a classi- 
cal scholar, familiar with the profanity of the ages 
in all tongues. 

And how those mules did pull ! With that sul- 
phurous stream of expletives striking them with 
full force, accompanied by vigorous thwacks of 
a wire-loaded black-snake, it was not long before 
the wagon and its precious freight were safe on 
the other side. In apologizing for his vigorous 
profanity, John explained that nothing but swearing 
would make mules pull when in such a place, and, 
said he, " While I was ashamed to use such lan- 
guage in your presence, nothing but the Simon- 
pure article does with these yere chaps." 

Being safe and secure, I felt constrained to ex- 
cuse him, and serene, though muddy, our caravan 
proceeded, the other wagon making a short detour 
around the head of the slough, and thus avoiding 
all trouble. 

In a few more miles we reached the banks of 
the Rio Colorado Chiquito. The only road was 
one made by the cowboys, and of all the Chinese 
puzzles of a road it would outwit the celestial 
inventor of the most bewildering razzle-dazzle to 
construct another equal to this. We moved in 



THE GRAND CANYON 213 

every direction, made acute angles, oblique angles, 
and described curves of every order, several times 
retracing our steps for long distances towards 
Winslow. In despair I was about to give up the 
hope of ever reaching the crossing, when John 
nerved me to a few more moments' waiting, with 
the assurance that we were " nearly there." 

We reached and crossed the dirty red stream at 
last, and there made our first noon camp. 

In order to test the muddy cjualities of the 
stream, and also to enjoy a swim, if one were 
possible, one of the gentlemen and myself deter- 
mined to undress and enter the river. One plunge 
convinced us of the vast amount of matter it held in 
solution, and the swift current decided for us the 
question of swimming. We were compelled to 
strike out, and make for the other bank, walk back 
on a mud flat, and then recross to where our clothes 
were. As we emerged we found ourselves fairly 
coated with a fine red paint, which nothing but 
plenty of clean water would remove. This we did 
not have, so scraping with sticks the fine mud off as 
well as we were able, we dressed, and rejoined the 
party, who were now about ready to proceed. 

For a long way our route lay alongside the Little 
Colorado River. We passed on the west side of 
Volz's Crossing — where once I had a party de- 
layed for nearly two days, owing to a ten-feet rise 
in the river during the night — on to Wolf's 
Crossing and Trading Post, and in turn passed 
Black and Grand Falls. Black Falls, in reality, is 
but a long stretch of slight cascades, the river-bed 
formed of and filled with rough boulders of lava 



214 IN AND AROUND 

and basic rock, so that the muddy red waters are 
churned into creamy foam for the distance of nearly 
half a mile, and thus set off in contrast the black of 
the rocks. The scene is not unlike that of the upper 
cataracts of the Nile, but on a reduced scale. Grand 
Falls is more of a genuine waterfall, but unless it 
is in flood time, there is not enough water to cover 
the width of the crest of the precipice over which 
it dashes, and thus make an effective scene. In 
flood time, however, it is a miniature Niagara. 

All along the banks of this stream, variously 
known as the Flax River, the Salt River (the 
Havasupais still speak of it as the Salt River, 
because here their Hopi friends used to obtain 
salt), the Colorado Chiquito, and its English equiva- 
lent, the Little Colorado, are the ruins of a large 
number of homes of people who, long ages ago, here 
found shelter from worse enemies than the barren- 
ness of a desert, — enemies whose fierce hostility 
led them to seek protection in caves and cliffs and 
desert places of this character. What a piteous 
life it must have been! Nothing grand, picturesque, 
or beautiful to soothe the horror and awfulness of 
it ; fearful of the attacks of blood-thirsty and persist- 
ent foes, both by day and by night ; in a region 
where nothing could grow ; the dumping ground of 
volcanoes, and fired and scorched by pitiless lava 
flows, — I never picture the life of those wretched, 
hunted people of the past but a sob of pity rises 
within me, and tears well up in my eyes. 

And to give vividness to the horror, every time 
I have crossed this desert I have been caught in a 
dreadful storm. On this occasion it was such a 



THE GRAND CANYON 



215 



one as I had never seen before, and I hope I may 
never see again. From pure cobalt or rich tur- 
quoise blue the sky gradually changed to ashen 
gray, then lowering black, and then fiery red. 
Clouds were drifting in from the north. When the 




Ix THE " Boxing " of the Little Colorado. 



lightning began it was on three sides, and all at 
once a wild, fierce glare everywhere. Occasionally 
these sheets of lightning were followed by vindictive 
zigzag flashes, which in the north struck from zenith 
to nadir. By this time the wind was blowing a 
perfect hurricane, and the thunder rolled fiercely in 
accompaniment to the wild raging of the wind. 

But these w^ere only premonitions ! For an hour 
or more they continued, the Storm King lashing 
himself into greater and greater fury, until, all at 



21 6 IN AND AROUND 

once, his fierce anger become uncontrollable, and 
the crisis came. The heavens split wide afar, the 
flood-gates were opened, and down came many- 
waters. Not in drops did the rain descend, nor 
torrents even, but in rivers, in Niagaras ! The hills 
were water-washed everywhere, and deep canyons 
were cut even into solid rock. With such a tempest 
twice a year even, gathering rills into streams, 
streams into rivers, rolling with fierce rapidity over 
the rocky slopes, the water charged with sand, pos- 
sibly stones, and, as the velocity increases, large 
fragments of rock, there is no wonder that this 
whole country is barren and cut, sawed, seamed, 
and scarred, and made as rugged in face and feature 
as the hero of a hundred desperate hand to hand 
battles. It seems as if the evil powers of nature 
concentrated all their fury, deadly hatred, and most 
awful vindictiveness in this corner, — an area of 
perhaps one hundred miles in circumference, — for 
in summer it is blazing with tropic heat, in the 
fall delusfed with friohtful floods, in winter cursed 
with cutting snow blizzards, and in spring the scene 
of dire battles fought with fierce winds laden with 
blinding: sand. Hence, at all times it is desolate 
and accursed. And he is wise — unless he be a 
true explorer and investigator, willing to endure 
all hardships in his chosen work — who shuns 
closer acquaintance with its awful desolation, wind- 
swept wastes, and water-cut surface. 

This barren desolation continues as far as Wil- 
low Spring, a Navaho Indian trading store. Near- 
by a number of " hogans " may be seen, where the 
women are hard at work at their looms, weaving 



THE GRAND CANYON 217 

blankets. Two or three of these weavers have 
considerable skill and ability, and some of the fin- 
est blankets of the tribe are made here. 

This is the nearest settlement of any kind to the 
junction of the Little Colorado River with the 
Grand Canyon. It was undoubtedly by Willow 




Copyright, 1898, by George ll'/inrtott 'James. 

Interior of Navaho Hogan. 

Spring that Cardenas with his handful of soldiers 
was led by the crafty Hopis, who did not wish the 
Spaniards to obtain too favorable an impression of 
the Colorado River region, or gain access to their 
beds of salt near the junction of the lesser and 
greater rivers. No other presumption can account 
for their not being guided by the Hopis down the 
old Salt Trail — to which reference will be made 
in a later chapter — to the very edge of the water. 

Poor Cardenas! thou and thy thirsty soldiers are 
not the only ones who have been misguided by 



21 8 IN AND AROUND 

wily and suspicious Indians, or deceived by their 
constant protestations of good faith. 

This corner of country near the mouth of the 
Little Colorado River is seamed with canyons, 
ravines, and gulches. It is a genuine " Beled-el- 
ateuch " — land of thirst — and may well be desig- 
nated an " interminable country of desolation." 
There is no water for miles, and except immedi- 
ately after a rain-storm, when water is caught in a 
few natural rock pockets, or during the storms of 
winter, when patches of snow may be found, it is 
impossible to get even an Indian, used to the 
sandy deserts in Arizona, to ride across it, much 
less undertake to guide a stranger over its waterless 
and pathless miles. 

In looking over the country from Echo Reef, 
one sees a thousand hills of all sizes and materials, 
— sandstone, sandy clay, blue marl, — and the rock, 
cut, washed, scarred, and carved by all the uninter- 
rupted forces of nature, that in such places as these 
seem to enjoy their work of creating desolation. 

If one follows the windings of the Little Colo- 
rado River, about sixty miles of walled-in, boxed-up 
canyon are presented, every mile of it grand, 
stupendous, overpowering. During the dry season, 
the upper portion of this canyon is almost dry, 
often entirely so, the light flows of water from 
the sources in the Arizona White Mountains dis- 
appearing in the sand and gravel soon after their 
appearance. But about twenty miles from the 
junction of the Little Colorado River wath the 
main Colorado River, nearly parallel with Kohonino 
Point, there flows out a large body of water at the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



219 



base of the canyon wall that makes a stream of 
considerable size. This water is strongly impreg- 
nated with mineral, and is blue in appearance, and 
when free from the mud and filth of the upper 




Mineral Spring in the Canyon of the Little 
Colorado. 



waters of the Little Colorado, offers an unspeak- 
ably beautiful spectacle as it flows on to join the 
waters of the great river below. There has been 
much conjecture as to the source of this large 
stream. I am satisfied, from extended observation 
on the Kohonino Plateau, between the Little Colo- 
rado Canyon and the San Francisco Mountains, 
that it has its rise in the water-soaked slopes of 
the latter. Indeed, in several places I have found 
holes in the rock on this plateau, into which the 



220 IN AND AROUND 

wind was sucked with great velocity, so much so 
that on tearing up slips of paper and placing them 
within reach of this in-sucking current, they im- 
mediately disappeared. I can only account for this 
suction by the flowing of a strong current of water 
underneath. 

It was a weary drive from Willow Spring to Lee's 
Ferry. One night the horses got away and started 
back for water. Poor French had to follow them 
sixteen miles before he caught them, and the day 
was nearly gone when at last we made a start, to 
travel but five miles ere we camped again. 

In approaching Lee's Ferry from the south side, 
there is little or no premonition of the great 
break in the canyon walls which makes the ferry 
possible. Ever since we left Willow Spring, we 
were really in a portion of the great canyon, for 
Echo Reef, on our right, had gradually been rising 
higher and higher, while, far away, on what we knew, 
although we could not see, was the opposite side 
of the river, was the stratum with its face of precip- 
itous bluffs corresponding with Echo Reef, actually 
making a vast upper canyon many miles wide. 
But as we drove along, even when we were nearing 
the ferry, not a sign could be found in the plateau 
to denote the presence of Marble Canyon. The 
first fifteen or twenty miles from Willow Spring is 
a gentle rise, after which a short ridge is crossed, 
dotted with struggling pines and junipers, and then 
begins a gradual descent, which lasts until the ferry 
itself is reached. The farther we go the more 
rough and rocky the road becomes. 

The homestead, established by John D. Lee, now 



THE GRAND CANYON 



221 



belongs to the Mormon Church, and is leased to 
an elder of the faith named James S. Emet. It is 
located about a mile and a half from the ferry on 
the north side of the river. We had to wait a long 
time on the south side, owing to our inability to 




Looking across the Colorado River between the Upper 
AND Lower Lee's Ferry to the Entrance of Paria 
Creek — Lee's Ferry Ranch House and Ranch also 

seen. 



make the ferryman hear; for, not only was there 
the distance to overcome, but the roar of the rapids 
above and below the ferry was enough to drown 
the noise of anything except artillery, unless the 
wind was in the right direction. When at last we 
did cross, the actual presence of the rapids to our 
right and left, their fierce, angry, deafening chorus, 
together with the narrow and precipitous walls of 



222 IN AND AROUND 

the mouth of Marble Canyon close by, made us feel 
the necessity of having ferrymen with sturdy arms, 
vigorous lungs, and a thorough knowledge of their 
business. Arrived on the other side, it was but the 
work of a few minutes for our horses to pull the 
wagon through the soft sand, to what seemed to 
our desert-stricken eyes a perfect paradise. There, 
surrounded by towering walls, glaring back in bril- 
liant reds, crimsons, vermilions, greens, oranges, 
and yellows, was the scene of the arduous labors of 
the notorious Lee. Large alfalfa fields, almost 
equally large vineyards and orchards of apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, cherries, etc., and a vegetable garden 
stocked with thriving potatoes, squash, beans, toma- 
toes, melons, and everything that one could desire, 
the whole irrigated with water diverted from the 
Paria Creek, had taken the place of the sandy waste 
that Lee originally found. 



THE GRAND CANYON 22 



CHAPTER XX 

JOHN D. LEE AND THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS 
MASSACRE 

THE detailed story of Lee's connection with 
the Mountain Meadows Massacre is much too 
long for these pages, but its outline will show that 
his name is associated with the Colorado canyons 
at several points. 

Who is there that has not been thrilled with 
the horror of the story of the Mountain Meadows 
Massacre? And what person, who is old enough, 
does not recall the sense of relief that was felt 
throughout the civilized world when the authentic 
news was circulated that John D. Lee was shot ? 
There was a space of nearly twenty years (Sep- 
tember, 1857, to March 23, 1S77) between the 
perpetration of the awful and hideous crime and 
its avenging. Why ? 

Various answers have been given, but all are 
more or less conjecture. 

In 1857, a hundred and twenty men, women, and 
children passed through Salt Lake City on their 
way from Arkansas to California. They met with 
various difificulties from Mormons and Indians, and, 
on reaching southern Utah, were directed to camp 
at a place known as Mountain Meadows. Here 
they were beset by Indians, and Mormons disguised 
as such, and for days kept in a state of close siege, 



224 IN AND AROUND 

until water gave out and horrible death seemed 
imminent. Then Lee and other Mormons waited 
upon them, and offered to lead them away from 
danger, provided they would undertake to return 
and give tip their arms to please the Indians. In- 
credible though it seems, the despondent men, anx- 
ious for the lives and honor of their loved ones, 
yielded to this preposterous demand, and, under a 
flag of truce, began to march — as they thought — 
to a place of safety. Their line was no sooner 
stretched out so as to prevent mutual help, when 
they were set upon by the fiends who had pledged 
themselves to protect them, and every man and 
woman, and most of the children, were ruthlessly 
butchered in cold blood. 

When the news of this unparalleled atrocity 
reached the ears of the outside world it was stricken 
with horror, followed with a fierce rage which called 
for immediate vengeance. The hierarch of the 
Mormon Church was openly accused of being the 
instigator of the crime. He denied either knowl- 
edge of or participation in it, except that a report had 
been made to him by Lee as Indian agent that it 
was the work of Indians whose fierce attacks he and 
other members of the church had sought to restrain. 

Little by little the truth began to leak out that, 
authorized or unauthorized by the head of their 
church, Mormons were certainly participants in the 
crime. Lee was charged with being one of the 
leaders, and an effort was made to apprehend him. 
He escaped, and was gone for three years, none 
knowing his whereabouts. Then he returned, and 
established the ferry that bears his name. Here J. 



THE GRAND CANYON 225 

Hanson Beadle, a noted newspaper correspondent, 
found him. Soon the knowledge of his return 
renewed the fierce demand for his punishment. 
Again an effort was made to arrest him, and again 
he escaped. After a short lapse of time he returned 
to one of his many homes, — he had eighteen wives 
and a correspondingly large number of homes, — was 
captured, had two trials, was sentenced to death, 
taken out to the scene of the massacre, and there 
shot. 

The attitude of the church is that Lee, for pur- 
poses of personal plunder, committed the crime, and 
that he and his associates alone are responsible. 

Lee claims that he acted under orders, and that 
when he escaped, both the first and second times, it 
was because of advices that had reached him secretly 
from Brigham Young. On the occasion of his first 
escape, he, with three companions who were like- 
wise accused, fled to a region below Kanab, into 
one of the many side gorges of the Grand Canyon. 
A Paiuti boy accompanied them. According to 
the story Lee afterwards told to one of the chiefs 
of the Havasupai Indians, they were so driven for 
food that, one after another, the boy and two of the 
men were slain and eaten. On the Shinumo the 
bones of an Indian boy have been found, hacked 
with a knife, as if for the purpose of removing the 
flesh. After great struggles and perilous escapes, 
the two remaining wretches crossed the Colorado 
River, a little west of the Mystic Spring Trail. One 
fled to the Wallapai country, and the other, Lee, 
while subsisting upon seeds and desert plants, was 
found by the Havasupais, and by them secretly taken 

15 



226 



IN AND AROUND 



into the depths of tlieir canyon home. Here for 

nearly three years he 
remained, teaching 
them improved meth- 
ods of irrigation, fruit 
culture, vegetable rais- 
ing, etc. 

Then he decided to 
return and face his 
accusers, — so he de- 
clares, — but, when 
beset with danger, he 
again fled, only to be 
captured at last, igno- 
miniously secreted in 
a chicken-house. 

His claim of be- 
trayal at his trial is 
best told in his own 
words in this literal 
copy of the letter written by him at the time to 
Emma, his last wife, from whom I obtained it. 




John D. Lee and his two 
Favorite Wives. 

[From a portrait in the possession of his son at 
Tuba City.] 



UNITED STATES MARSHAL'S OFFICE 
Wm. Nelson, U. S. Marshal. District of Utah. 

Beaver City, Utah, Sept. 21st, 1876. 
Mrs. Emma B. Lee. 

Lonely Dell, Lees Ferry, A. T. 

Much beloved Companion, — Knowing the suspense 
you are in to hear from me and learn of my present situ- 
ation, and prospects in future, I hasten to write, as I cannot 
communicate to you in person. I reached here on the 4th 
instant, but was not wanted till the i ith, at which time my 



THE GRAND CANYON 227 

bondsmen appeared and surrendered me to the court, 
which placed me in an awkward situation. I was left in 
charge of the officers of the court, and sent to prison, there 
to await the summons of the court from time to time. 
This strange and mysterious move warned me that there 
was treachery and conspiracy on foot. General Wells, or 
the "one-eyed pirate," as the Tribune calls him, was in 
Beaver, to advise and council and direct the Brethren how 
to swear, and those that composed the jury to be a unit in 
rendering a verdict of murder in the first degree. My 
worthy friend and able attorney, W. W. Bishop, felt that we 
were sold ; he and Judge Foster of Pioche, who assisted him, 
had the promise that all was right from the leading men of 
the church here in Beaver, and even went so far as to mark 
the names of each man to be retained on the jury, telling 
him that if he would make up his jury with the names 
marked that they would be sure to clear me. Though 
fearful, he trusted them, which resulted in the jury's finding 
a verdict against me of murder in the first degree. Six 
witnesses testified against me, four of whom purgered them- 
selves by swearing falsehoods of the blackest character. 
Old Jacob Hamblin, the fiend of Hell, testified under oath 
that I told him that two young women were found in a 
thicket, where they had secreted themselves, by an Indian 
chief, who brought the girls to me and wanted to know 
what was to be done with them. That I replied that they 
was to old to live and would give evidence and must be 
killed ; the Indian said that they were too pretty to kill, 
that one of them fell on her knees and said, Spare my life 
and I will serve you all my days, that I then cut her throat, 
and the Indian killed the other. Such a thing I never 
heard of before, let alone committing the awful deed. The 
old hypocrite thought that now was his chance to reek his 
vengeance on me, by swearing away my life. Nephi John- 
son was the last man that I could have believed that 
would have sealed his damnation by bearing false testimony 
against me, his neighbor, to take away my life. The other 



228 IN AND AROUND 

two witnesses, Knights and McMurdy, swore that I com- 
mitted the awful deeds, that they did with their own wicl<ed 
hands. I own that I am perfectly whiped out, and have come 
to the conclusion that some men will swear that black is 
white, if the good Brethren only said so. But my expressing 
my feelings in this way will not change the verdict against 
me. This verdict has caused quite an excitement in Salt 
Lake City as well as here, among the honorable and think- 
ing class of men. They all say that it is too thin and 
played out. When the verdict was rendered, my attorney 
asked for a stay of proceedings for ten days, to prepare a 
plea of abatement for a rehearing, and an appeal to the 
higher courts, etc. which will sit in December next. My 
attorney promises to stand by me to the end, but must 
have a couple of hundred dollars within two months, to 
enable them to carry my case up to the higher courts. 
Dearest, do all you can to send me as much money as you 
can, I know you will do so. I have confidence in your 
ability to raise money. I have many warm-hearted, noble- 
minded friends, whom I believe will never see me sacrificed 
at the shrine of imposition, bigotry, falsehood, and igno- 
rance ; my firm conviction is that all will come out right 
in the end, though it requires a little time to bring it about. 
WiUard, Harie, and Darrow were here yesterday, and went 
away without letting me know that they were going to leave, 
a very foolish thing for them to do, as I wished to send my 
wagon-team and little Isaac back home. This evening 
Hellen came to the prison and told me that they had 
started for the Ferry to inform you and Rachel, and to 
bring Rachel. This, as I said before, was a strange move, 
but I suppose they thought from the verdict that all that 
wish to see me must come soon. This, of course, confuses 
my intended arrangements. I will have to wait until I 
hear from them before making a move in that direction ; 
in all probability I will be sent to Salt Lake Prison, as the 
supreme court sits in Salt Lake City. Dearest Emma, 
keep up good cheer. Say to friend Johnson that he must 



THE GRAND CANYON 229 

let you have all the money that comes from the Ferry, to 
help me in the hour of trouble. Tell Billy to remember 
Pa, and send him some money. My love to you and 
all the dear little children, to Warren and family also. 
Write immediately and often, for a word from you in your 
own handwriting carries joy and comfort to my soul. 
I have many things to say to you when we meet again. 
Joseph Wood is here in prison with me. He expects to get 
his trial soon. Miley is also here under indictment. Sarah 
Jane is at Jo Woods' ranch, taking care of things there, as 
Hellen was also indicted, and is here on bail, awaiting trial. 
I had to leave little Isaac with Sarah Jane for company 
and help her with the cows, as she was alone. Joseph 
Wood, Hellen, and Sarah Jane all wish to be remembered 
to you. I will write soon and let you know how matters 
move along. So good-bye for the present. I trust that 
we will see many good days together yet. 



To Emma B. Lee. 



J. D. Lee. 



230 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXI 

UP AND DOWN GLEN AND MARBLE CANYONS 

WHERE the Paria River flows in from the 
north to join the Colorado River, the pre- 
cipitous rocky walls of the canyons break and per- 
mit the skilful driver to get his wagon to the water, 
cross it in a ferry-boat, and climb out over an equally 
perilous road on the other side. This is Lee's 
Ferry, and the old Lee Homestead is located on the 
open and arable lands at the mouth of the Paria 
River. Here ends Glen Canyon, and just below the 
ferry Marble Canyon begins. 

I was fortunate enough to reach Lee's Ferry at 
the time Mr. N. Galloway — who, as before related, 
had emulated Major Powell, in making the com- 
plete trip through the canyons of the Colorado, — 
was about to go up Glen Canyon to visit his placer 
claims. Under strong persuasion he consented to 
give me a brief experience up that canyon, and 
down Marble Canyon as far as the much dreaded 
Soap Creek Rapids. 

A simpler, less pretentious boat than Mr. Gallo- 
way's could not be conceived, yet experience has 
demonstrated that it is the safest yet constructed 
for running the rapids of the Colorado River and 
going over its dangerous places. Mr. Galloway is 
his own architect and builder. A few three-quarter 
inch planks ; a little heavier timber for braces ; 




Cofiyright, 1898, by Geanre II ha>tc}i J.iiiies 

A Bend in Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. 



THE GRAND CANYON 231 

oars with holes in them, through which iron rods, 
fastened to the sides of the boat, serve always to 
keep the oars in the same place and are more 
secure than ordinary rowlocks; with canvas out- 
riggers and cover to keep her from being filled 
with water and swamped when running the rapids ; 
a bow at both ends, and a flat bottom with the 
merest pretence of a keel, and the boat is ready. 
For our trip the outriggers were taken off, as we 
had no dangerous rapids to encounter. 

It was raining when we started up Glen Canyon, 
and the profound gloom of those vast unillumined 
walls produced a sensation of depression. The 
river here has but little fall, and for half an hour 
we were in water with a slight current. To our 
right we saw the archway of an immense cave, — a 
perfect Roman arch, covering a mouth of gigantic 
proportions. Some years ago a band of Navahos 
crossed into Utah, killed a Mr. Whitemore who 
owned a large band of sheep, and, it being winter 
and the river frozen over at Lee's Ferry, the 
Indians sprinkled sand upon the ice and drove 
the sheep into this cave for secure hiding. Since 
that time it has been the rendezvous of a noted 
band of horse thieves. And surely no better place 
was ever chosen for the purpose. The secret place 
described in Gil Bias was an open highway to this 
out-of-the-way and inaccessible spot. Reached only 
by boat up or down the river, and by a precipitous 
and dangerous trail, a w^ll-provisioned, armed, and 
desperate band could bid defiance to the whole 
army of the United States and for a decade laugh 
at the idea of capture. 



232 



IN AND AROUND 



As we rowed on, our prison became narrower 
and the walls higher. Up they soared, until it 
seemed as if the very clouds floating over them 
would " scrape " as they passed. Now and again 
the river made an abrupt turn, and as we rode 
along we seemed to be coming to the end of a 
" blind alley " with no possible outlet except to 
return. 

At last the sun came out, and what a glorious 
revelation of beauty was given to us then ! Stream- 
ing down through celestial windows, brilliant rays 
of gold and silver and saffron and gray and yellow 
and pink and carmine were shed upon the red and 
gray sandstone walls and the sombre face of the 
placidly flowing water, and in a moment all was 
changed, beautified, glorified. More dazzling in 
effect than the sudden revelation of a brilliant pan- 
tomime to an audience in a darkened room, it was 
dignified by its vastness, majesty, and self-conscious 
strength. 

And who can describe those marvellous walls, 
with their natural arches, towers, pediments, spires, 
fantastic gargoyles, buttresses, windows, and infinite 
variety of form ? Generally precipitous, from five 
hundred to two thousand feet in sheer height, some- 
times a solid mural face of sandstone, without a 
crevice or break, one's n-eck w^as strained in the 
effort to fathom its height. Then when a par- 
ticularly smooth piece of water was reached, the 
eye caught glimpses of worlds floating under the 
water, — shadows of the glorious celestial streets 
above, made more ethereal and attractive by the 
slight tremor of the gently rippling water. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



233 



Picture after picture was thus presented to us 
until we reached the placer grounds, where for a 
while I watched the miners "panning gold." Several 
pans of gravel were washed, and as the gold settled 
to the bottom we estimated the value of the "dirt," 
and found that each 
yard should bring 
in from three to ten 
dollars, and as 
there were so 
many yards of 
gravel, the miners 
certainly had a 
"good thing" in 
this particular bar. 
And thus the 
chickens were 
counted while the 
colors were in the 
basket Who knows 
how many will 
hatch out } Yet 
miners are not the 

only people who count their chickens before they 
are hatched. 

Our return was glorified by the brilliant rays of 
the sun, which in this deep-walled chasm seemed 
to take on an exquisite and peculiar charm. The 
water was warm, and dofifing my clothes, I plunged 
in, and for miles enjoyed the luxury of a warm swim, 
following the boat as it gently glided with the 
smoothly flowing current. 

The trip down Marble Canyon was more exciting, 




Copyright, 1S9S, by George Wharton Jatues. 

Panning Gold in Glen Canyon. 




234 IN AND AROUND 

exhilarating, and adventuresome, for although we 

were to stop at Soap Creek Rapids and not risk 

"running it," we had five other rapids which Mr. 

Galloway said we might safely run. Lee's Ferry 

has two ferries — the upper and the lower — about 

a mile and a half apart, and this distance is almost 

entirely a long stretch of rapids. A rapid is a greater 

or lesser fall in the 

river, where the water 

increases its speed in 

accordance with the 

amount of the fall and 

^^ the length of the 

slope. Some rapids 

are half a mile Ions;, 
The Author swimming in the - , 

Colorado River. and are yet of SUch 

easy descent that 
they can be " run " in safety. Others are much 
shorter, but having a large fall are much swifter and 
dangerous. The chief element of danger in most 
of the rapids is the large number of boulders in the 
bed of the river, over which the waters dash and 
pour in a wild and bewildering manner. More 
dangerous than the fixed boulders, against the perils 
of which the boatman may guard, are the rolling 
boulders, which, as they dash along over the slop- 
ing bed of the river, throw up — no one can tell 
when or where — great rolling" waves — fountains 
— which dash the tiny boat against the rocky w^alls 
and crush it as if it were an eggshell, toss it high 
upon some outstanding rock, or whirl it unresist- 
ingly into the depth of the stream. To guide a 
boat through these dangerous boulders and back- 







Copyright, 1898, by George Wharton James. 

The Marble Canyon of the Colorado River. 



THE GRAND CANYON 235 

rolling waves, going at the swift speed it is sure to 
attain when swept along by so rapid a current, 
requires a quick eye, discerning brain, strong 
muscles, and prompt action. Our experiences were 
thrilling and exciting enough to satisfactorily dem- 
onstrate the necessity of the possession by our 
boatmen of these qualities. 

Taking my cameras, food, bedding, and a box of 
fine grapes and other fruits from the Lee's Ferry 
orchard, we pushed off. There were two of us in 
the boat, — Mr. Galloway and myself. Our first ex- 
perience was a rapid. As soon as Mr. Galloway's 
vigorous strokes brought the boat into the current, 
off we went. I sat looking ahead, he guiding the 
boat by occasionally peering over his shoulder. 
Up and down we danced, now dodging to the right, 
now to the left, then racing along with a speed that 
made the walls and boulders and other stationary 
objects fly behind us. How we leaped and danced 
and flew along! Our boat was a sentient being, 
full of life and vigor, and evidently enjoyed this wild 
race with the raging, roaring waters. All too soon 
this first experience came to an end, and Galloway 
was quietly rowing to the second rapids, past the 
lower ferry, into the very mouth of the frightful 
Marble Canyon, where poor Frank Brown, strong, 
vigorous, full of joyous manhood, lost his life, and 
where, a few days later, two others of his band were 
drowned. At the ferry our second oarsman, Mr. 
Fluke, was taken aboard, and in three minutes we 
were in the midst of our second rapid. At the third 
rapid Galloway gave way, and let Fluke take the 
oars, at the latter's request. He asseverated that 



236 



IN AND AROUND 



his strength was great enough to overcome the 
power of the waves on either side, and that we need 
not be afraid to trust to his care. No sooner were 
we in the rapids than a side current swept us over 
to the left as if we had been a feather, and it required 




Noon Lunch ix Glen Canyon. 



all the strength of Fluke's vigorous arms to keep 
the boat "head on." In the face of his boastins: I 
presumed to tell him that we nearly made a " fluke " 
of passing that rapid. 

We prospected every gravel bar in the canyon, 
and found slight traces of gold after each panning. 
My camera was called into requisition time and 
time again, as new pictures of the grand, majestic, 
and beautiful were presented at every turn. At 
noon, on a sandbar, with driftwood for our fire, we 



THE GRAND CANYON 237 

had beefsteak, tea, and fruit, and while the former 
were being cooked, I jumped into the river, which 
was fairly still at this point, and revelled in its buoy- 
ant and warm waters. After dinner we started on. 
Occasionally we were in the hurrying of the rapids, 
and aoain and aijain we could hear scarce a sound, 
save the gentle lapping of the waters against the 
boat or the canyon walls, the cooing of a lost dove, 
or the piping, semitone scold of the canyon wren, 
many of which we saw on this trip. Here and there 
we saw signs of beaver, which Mr. Galloway longed 
to stay and trap. And thus we quietly journeyed 
along until a louder roar and din than we had yet 
heard told us of our speedy approach to Soap Creek 
Rapids. And what a wild, restless, tossing, swirl- 
ing, fuming, confused scene it was ! This was no 
childish " Lodore." The water here was indeed 
" dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound; " 
the boulders were large, the fall rapid for half a 
mile, and the current strong ; consequently, as the 
waters swept over the edge, they were changed at 
once from placid, smoothly gliding things of peace, 
to angry, roughly tossing weapons of war. Here, 
like white-crested snakes in fierce wrath, they arose 
above the rocks, and then darted down upon them 
with a fierce fury, as if they would split them into 
fragments. There, for a few rods, a part of the 
current ran in a mighty volume down the steep 
slope at unrestrained speed, only to drop into a 
great hole, where it was dashed into spray against a 
tremendous boulder. Now, conceive a little shell 
of a boat battling its way through such a tangle of 
rocks, spray, waves, currents, cross-currents, whirl- 



238 IN AND AROUND 

pools, and madly racing waters, and you will know 
why it is so perilous, and why a man feels that he 
takes his life in his hands, and risks its being 
snatched away in a moment, when he enters one 
of them. 

Fortunately we had neither to run the rapids 
nor make a portage around. We simply watched 
it, studied it, photographed it, sat down before it, 
and pictured the brave band of explorers who had 
dared its dangers, and then, peacefully and happily, 
started on our return journey to Lee's Ferry. 




'^'MX- !^*J 



'^mk y 





o 



THE GRAND CANYON 239 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE OLD HOPI SALT TRAIL 

ABOUT eight miles from the mouth of the 
Little Colorado is located this old and his- 
toric trail, long used by Hopituh, Paiutis, and 
Navahos. It leads to a salt ledge, extending from 
the lower end of the Little Colorado, some eight or 
nine miles, towards the Tanner-French Trail of the 
Grand Canyon. Owing to the cheapness of salt, 
and the superior quality of the article purchased of 
the Indian traders, the aborigines have ceased 
fetching salt from this ledge; hence the trail is 
rapidly becoming impassable, and unless something 
is speedily done to it, not even the agile Hopi and 
their fearless ponies will be able to use it. 

When Cardenas and his band desired to see the 
great river to the north — the Colorado — of which 
they had heard so much, it would have been an easy 
matter for the Hopi to have guided them to this 
trail and to the point where the waters of the Little 
Colorado join those of the Colorado Grande. But 
fearful that the strangers would use the knowledge 
thus gained against them, or that they might find 
in that region or river something that would lead 
them to desire to make frequent excursions into the 
country and thus become too common visitors, or 
perhaps that the sight of their precious salt ledge 



240 



IN AND AROUND 



would arouse their covetousness, — these things 
were sufficient to determine them to misguide the 
Spaniards. Consequently they were taken to the 
barren and inhospitable region already described 
in the chapter on Lee's Ferry. 

When Lieutenant 
Ives desired to inves- 
tigate the same region 
from Oraibi, he met 
with exactly the same 
difficulties that had 
confronted Cardenas. 
He says: "The 
country to the north 
and northwest is roll- 
ing for some miles, 
and then there are 
elevated plateaux ris- 




..^yilljl^ 



Salt Spring in the Little 
Colorado Canyon. 



steps. The most re- 
mote appears to be 
sixty miles off, and 
higher than any table- 
land that has been 
passed. Distant peaks can be seen a little east of 
north. The Indians have said that the trail runs 
northwest, and that it is the only practicable route 
by which upper portions of the river can be at- 
tained. Such a course would bring us, at the end 
of ninety miles, opposite to the point where we 
struck the Cascade River (Havasu Canyon), and 
only about fifty miles distant from it, though we 
would have travelled, in heading the canyon and 



THE GRAND CANYON 241 

side canyons of Flax River (the Little Colorado), 
nearly three hundred miles." 

Now, had the Hopi cared to have guided him 
to their Salt Trail, Ives could have reached the 
waters of the Colorado River in two days. But 
although he was the accredited representative of 
our government, no aid could he gain from the 
suspicious Hopi of Oraibi. 

He graphically describes the treatment he re- 
ceived at their hands ; how that, although he had 
made a bargain for a guide, he failed to appear 
(undoubtedly forbidden to do so by the Oraibi 
chief), and then, how amiable and considerate the 
chief was when, after making the attempt to reach 
the river alone, and the party was compelled to turn 
back, he said, " I told you so," but gladly offered 
them a guide to Fort Defiance, a hundred and fifty 
miles to the east. 



16 



242 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE TANNER-FRENCH TRAIL 

VISITORS to the Grand Canyon by way of 
Flagstaff, to any of the three accessible trails 
reached from that point, will remember riding out 
to Comanche (Bissell) and Ute (Moran) Points, and 
from one or the other looking farther east to 
Navaho Point and wondering whether the view 
there was much different from the one he had just 
been enjoying. He will also remember looking 
down into the depths of the Canyon towards where, 
he was told, the Little Colorado formed its junction 
with the Colorado Grande, and remarking how 
open the Canyon appeared to be. 

It is in this open space that the trail known 
variously as the Tanner and the French Trail is 
located. Major Powell travelled over it, — for it is 
an old Indian trail, used for centuries by Hava- 
supais and Hopi to reach the salt deposit before 
referred to, — and did considerable labor on it, cross- 
ing to the other side and building a trail to the 
plateau above. 

Some time before Powell's visit, Seth B. Tanner, 
a Mormon pioneer, now living at Tuba City, ex- 
pended considerable labor, energy, and money upon 
it for mining and stock purposes. Shortly after 
this, Franklin French, who was my driver to Lee's 



THE GRAND CANYON 



243 



Ferry, desirous of doing some mining work in the 
Canyon, and dissatisfied with the upper portion of 
the trail, built a new section, which made a Y of 
the trail when it was completed. In those days the 
condition of the trail can be imagined from the 
following inci- 
dent, related to me 
by French, and by 
him vouched for 
as "Gospel truth." 
" One day the 
boys had a lot of 
planks to be 
carried to the 
river. It was my 
business to load 
them on the 
mules, and get 
them down there. 
It was a soul- 
destroying job. 
There was hades 
to pay. We called 
it a trail, but it was 

only a roughly marked out suggestion of where a 
trail ought to be. But that made no difference ; 
I had to get the lumber down to the river. A 
happy thought struck me. Drunken men will often 
do things they dare not attempt when sober. I 
thought I would try it on the mules, so when they 
drank I dosed the water heavily with whiskey ; 
and down we went a-skiting. The mules were as 
reckless as Jack Tars on a frolic. We got there all 




Copyright, 1899, hy Oliver Lifpuicott. 

The Work of Erosion on the Rim. 



244 IN AND AROUND 

the same, but a sorrier looking set of remorseful, 
repentant mules than we had the next morning the 
eye of man never saw." 

The trail is difficult of access, and as none of the 
guides care to make the trip unless an explorer out- 
fits for himself and goes, he stands a poor chance 
of reaching the river, nowadays, down this old and 
forsaken trail. 

In March of 1886 Mr. Bass, with two companions, 
started out to hunt for the lost John D. Lee gold 
mine. They aimed for this trail, and, arriving on 
the rim in the evening, camped at the top, turning 
their horses loose, as usual, to graze. Early the next 
morning, going down the east fork of the upper 
part of the trail, they came upon a camp, evidently 
vacated but a short time before by its owners, for 
there were five rolls of bedding, left just as the 
sleepers had tumbled out of them, five Winchester 
rifles, five six-shooters, five saddles, etc. Knowing 
the owners could not be far away, Bass and his com- 
panions passed on, and, on reaching Rock Tanks, in 
the gorge below, were not surprised to find five men 
busily engaged in watering eighteen horses, which, 
it required no expert to discern, had just undergone 
the suspicious operation of " changing the brands." 
This operation, fully understood in the West, may 
need a little explanation. In the vast ranges of 
this great unfenced country the only protection a 
man has for his wild running stock is his brand. 
All the brands of the district are reo^istered, and 
each man's mark becomes as well known as his 
name. When animals are stolen and the thieves 
desire to sell them again, it is a dangerous experi- 



THE GRAND CANYON 245 

ment to try to sell stock of another man's brand, 
unless the seller can show a bill of sale. Forgery 
is dangerous and, generally, easily detected. But 
by skilful manipulation and with a little time brands 
can be so altered — " hocus-pocussed " — as to be- 
come unrecognizable. Then sales, at comparatively 
low prices, are easy. 

These thieves had brought the stolen stock to 
this secluded spot in order that the brands might 
be changed. But while this was as apparent to the 
three gold seekers as the innocent little disguises 
of a newly-married couple are apparent to an ex- 
perienced hotel clerk, self-protection bade them 
close their eyes and see and know nothing. Ac- 
cordingly whiskey flasks were passed around, and 
one of the five thieves then became quite communi- 
cative in answer to the questions put by Bass and 
his companions as to water holes and camping 
places on the other side of the river. He was a 
Frenchman, and claimed that he had been with 
Major Powell in his explorations of the Canyon at 
this point. 

The prospectors reached the river, and there 
found some stranded bridge timber, of which a raft 
was constructed, and the river crossed. There the 
water and camping places showed that the informa- 
tion given was correct. But fearing for the safety 
of their horses at the head of the trail, they decided 
to return for them. It was but two days from the 
time they had met the horse thieves, yet on reach- 
ing their camp again they found they were gone, 
" stock, bag and baggage," evidently directly after 
the first meeting was over. On returning to civili- 



246 IN AND AROUND 

zation they read in the papers that shortly prior to 
their meeting with these five men, eighteen valuable 
horses had been stolen from Albuquerque, and that 
the thieves had been traced as far west as the Little 
Colorado River, and there lost sight of. 

In 1890 this trail was again the scene of gold 
hunting. A Mormon named Brown drove from 
Utah, his head full of a variety of stories told by his 
fellow Mormons who were miners, and even by re- 
sponsible men in the church, in relation to the John 
D. Lee mine. One story he had heard was that Lee 
had buried seven cans of almost pure native gold near 
the mouth of the Little Colorado River. Brown 
was instructed to find Mr. Bass, which he did, and 
together they began afresh the search for the mine 
and the buried gold. Leaving Williams, they 
crossed the desert, passed Rain Tanks and Hance's, 
and hurried on to the west fork of the Tanner- 
French Trail. Here, some little distance down, a 
tree had fallen across the trail, and they were com- 
pelled to return. They had with them five burros, 
all heavily laden, besides their saddle horses. In 
going down, Brown failed to re-cinch his saddle, 
and on dismounting to return, it either pitched or 
twisted so as to scare the horse and set him off 
" bucking." And buck he did to such good effect 
that he knocked over the five burros and came near 
making an end of the whole expedition. One 
burro's pack contained a rifle, and as he rolled 
down the steep slopes of the talus the weapon went 
off, and, as if to emulate his fellow, another burro, 
after rolling over and over, and finally landing pack 
down with all of his four legs in the air, helplessly 



THE GRAND CANYON 247 

waving for assistance, seemed to remember that 
there was a loaded revolver in his pack, and, with- 
out further provocation, fired it off. 

The return from this expedition came near being 
fatal to Mr, Bass, for on crossing the Painted Desert 
he was overcome with the heat. At Big Horse 
Tanks he was compelled to dismount from his 
horse and lie down, and had it not happened that a 
cowboy passed who gave him water and attention, 
it is not improbable that the Mystic Spring Trail 
would now be without its enthusiastic owner. As 
it was, he went to Southern California to recuper- 
ate, and turned over his outfit to Brown and another 
man, that they might continue the search. At 
Christmas he received a notice from these two 
worthies that " if they found the mine he would 
have no share in it," thus repaying his guidance 
and the use of his horses and other outfit. But 
they failed in their search, as others had done be- 
fore, and the John D. Lee mine still awaits a new 
discoverer. 



248 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE RED CANYON AND OLD TRAILS 

THERE are no distinctive features connected 
with the Red Canyon Trail, except that it 
is fairly engineered, and so well constructed that 
one can ride almost the entire way from Hotel 
Camp to the river. It begins about three miles 
east of the Old Trail, and after a rapid zigzag brings 
one to a " hogback," which connects the south wall 
with the shoulder of Ayer Peak. 

Lookino[ towards the rim from this hogback it 
will be observed that the cliffs are very irregular. 
They thrust themselves forward, then recede, then 
again come forward, and thus make a series of capes 
and bays, which reaches for an extended distance 
in each direction. This irregularity of the mural 
face accounts for a peculiarly charming echo, which 
may be observed by the curious. Turning one's 
face to the rim and giving a loud "hallo," the voice 
seems to enter the bays of the serrated cliffs and 
roll around each promontory in turn. The result 
is singular. First, the voice is given back as from 
an immense distance, but rapidly approaching. 
Then it swells out and re-echoes with great volume, 
as if shot forth from the farthest recesses of the bay, 
to receive a final great impetus as it reaches the very 
point of the nearest promontory. Then it sinks 



THE GRAND CANYON 



249 



again, to once more emerge in power, and thus it 
swells and dies down, again and again, until the last 
promontory of the wall is reached, when, like the final 
crack of a whip, it gives one last " hallo " with a vim 
and energy that is simply startling, and the echo 




NOXCOXFORMABLE STRATA ON ReD CANYON TrAIL. 



disappears. The time taken for the echoes is from 
nine to twelve seconds. 

Desirous of testing the figures given as to the 
lieight of Hotel Camp and the river, Hon. T. P. 
Lukens of Pasadena, and Mr. W. H. Jackson, the 
celebrated artist-photographer, made a series of 
careful measurements with aneroids, which had 
been tested on a variety of occasions with the bulle- 
tined measurements of the United States Geologi- 



250 IN AND AROUND 

cal Survey. These measurements showed that the 
general idea of the Canyon depth at this spot was 
much exaggerated. The elevation at Hotel Camp 
was found to be seven thousand feet, and at the river 
twenty-seven hundred feet, thus giving a direct de- 
scent of forty-three hundred feet, as the difference 
between the elevations at the upper and lower 
levels. 

From the standpoint of the geologist, whether 
expert or student, the Old Trail is much more in- 
teresting than the Red Canyon Trail, though both 
have distinctive features that make a study of each 
profitable. In the Red Canyon the non-conformity 
of the lower sandstones is beautifully revealed, 
while in the Old Trail Canyon one may study the 
archaean rocks. The Old Trail was the one down 
which I first descended many years ago, in the 
company of several friends. We were all new at 
the work, and went without a guide. The first 
three miles is a steep zigzag, then a narrow gorge 
leads to a slightly open space and Cottonwood 
Gorge. Just below the gorge we passed the singu- 
lar faulted mass of subcarboniferous rocks which 
Thomas Moran called the Temple of Seti ; then 
through narrow canyon walls of granite, up and 
down rope ladders, splashed by waterfalls and ac- 
companied by the gentle babbling of a tiny stream, 
we plodded along. At length we came to a fifty- 
foot precipice, over which dashed the water, and my 
companions, deterred for a while, discussed whether 
they should proceed or return. Impatient of delay, 
I descended, and dashed ahead in delightful soli- 
tude. Soon I heard a new and strange sound. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



251 



The following, which I quote from my note-book, 
was written at the time : — 

"The babble of the little stream rippling over 
the rocks has filled our ears all the way down, but 
now its noise is like the cry of an infant compared 




The CuLoRAiJo River at thi: Foot of the Old Trail. 



with the deep bass voice of a giant roaring as in a 
passion of pain, and in awe-stricken wonderment I 
listen. Hark ! the river at last ! A few more mo- 
ments and, solitary and alone, I catch my first 
glimpse of it, — a raging, roaring, boiling, surging 
torrent. The granitic cliffs tower on either side 
in rough, jagged, cruel outline, their fantastically 
carved spires reaching upwards into the fleecy 
clouds which float in the azure sky. To the right 



252 IN AND AROUND 

the river flows smoothly and placidly, as if an in- 
land lake with unruffled surface were being rapidly 
borne on the backs of giants who walk so gently 
that no upheaval or disturbance is observable. 

" Immediately at the foot of the side canyon the 
scene changes. It is as if a deep trench had been 
cut directly across the bed of the great river, into 
which it tumbles, and whirls and rages and roars 
with wild fury. Now look to the lower side of this 
trench ! What a change from the placidity above ! 
A mass of turbulent, seething, hissing rapids fills 
up the gorge. The giants are here, but no longer 
moving easily and noiselessly along. In the massive 
boulders that help fill up the channel the imagina- 
tion easily sees titanic faces and hands and arms. 
Yonder is a frightful monster, seizing a tremendous 
wave as it comes out of the trench. With incred- 
ible fury and fierce rapidity he hurls it upon his foe 
on the other side of the river. Immediately a score 
of waves are thus picked up and hurled, some in 
one direction, some in another. Now and as^ain 
these waves meet in the air, destroy each other, 
and fall back, impotent for evil, into the wild mass. 
Yonder is a defeated giant buried beneath a cata- 
ract of waters. Down he goes, his appealing face 
clearly visible and his hands and arms stretching 
out for help. It is fascinating, thrilling, horrible, 
for though one knows it is all imagination, it seems 
so real that one feels he is looking upon the bat- 
tling place of the giants, fighting in deadly combat 
for the control of this great waterway." 



THE GRAND CANYON 253 



CHAPTER XXV 

GRAND CANYON FOREST RESERVE 

ON the twentieth of February President Har- 
rison issued a proclamation creating the 
*' Great Canyon Forest Reserve " in the northern 
part of Coconino County, the land embraced in it 
being reserved from settlement on entry. The 
boundaries are as follows : — 

" Beginning at the point of intersection of the 
parallel of thirty-six (36) degrees, thirty (30) minutes, 
North Latitude, with the meridian of one hundred 
and eleven (iii) degrees, forty-five (45) minutes, of 
Longitude west from Greenwich ; thence westerly 
along said parallel of latitude to its intersection 
with the meridian of one hundred and twelve (112) 
degrees, forty-five (45) minutes, West Longitude; 
thence southerly along said meridian of longitude 
to its intersection with the parallel of thirty-five (35) 
degrees, forty-five (45) minutes. North Latitude; 
thence easterly along said parallel of latitude to 
its intersection with the meridian of one hundred 
and eleven (iii) degrees, forty-five (45) minutes, 
West Longitude; thence northerly along said merid- 
ian of longitude to its intersection with the parallel 
of thirty-six {36) degrees, thirty (30) minutes. North 
Latitude, the place of beginning. 

" Excepting from the force and effect of this proc- 
lamation all lands which may have been, prior to 



254 IN AND AROUND 

the date thereof, embraced in any legal entry or 
covered by any lawful filing duly of record in the 
proper United States Land Office, or upon which 
any valid settlement has been made pursuant to 
law, and the statutory period within which to make 
entry or filing of record has not expired ; and all 
mining claims duly located and held according to 
the laws of the United States and rules and regu- 
lations not in conflict therewith. 

" Provided that this exception shall not continue 
to apply to any particular tract of land unless the 
entryman, settler, or claimant continues to comply 
with the law under which the entry filing settle- 
ment or location was made." 

It is a matter of regret that the United States 
Government has not yet seen its way clear to 
convert the most scenic portions of the Grand 
Canyon into a National Park. The people ought 
to own, forever, this glorious inheritance. There 
should be no limitations placed upon their perfect 
enjoyment of it but such as are necessary for its 
preservation ; and while the forest reserve act, 
above quoted, is a step in the right direction, 
there should be no incompleteness in this act of 
national reservation as a public park. An act should 
be passed forever preserving all the natural curi- 
osities, wonders, and scenic marvels, the game and 
forests of the region ; reserving it from private 
occupancy, so that it shall remain in unrestricted 
freedom for the benefit, pleasure, and enjoyment of 
the people ; and at the same time providing for the 
granting of such leases for hotels, railways, stages, 
and other privileges as are necessary for the com- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



^55 



fort, convenience, and safety of visitors. In addition 
to this there should be an administrative act passed 
defining all offences against the park and providing 
a penalty for their commission. The blunders in 
the organization of the National Park of the Yel- 
lowstone need not be repeated. At trifling cost 
the necessary protection can be secured and wanton 
destroyers kept in wholesome check. 

While there are many things that might be re- 
ferred to as fit subjects for legislation or proclama- 
tion, I am especially anxious that the mural faces 
of the Grand Canyon shall not be desecrated by 
painted advertisements. Now that the railway has 
made it accessible, it is not unreasonable to fear 
that unless some action is speedily taken the visitor 
may find, staring at him from the walls of the 
Canyon, a painted recommendation to use some 
special liver pad or try the only reliable catarrh 
cure. 



256 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE TOPOCOBYA TRAIL AND HAVASU (CATARACT) 

CANYON 

THERE are two Cataract Canyons known in 
connection with the Colorado River. One is 
the Cataract Canyon of the upper portion of the 
river, referred to in Chapters Two and Four, and 
the other is the Cataract Canyon which receives 
the drainage and flood waters of the northern slope 
of Williams Mountain, the Kohonino Forest, and 
also of the southern rim of the Grand Canyon for a 
distance of nearly fifty miles. It begins near the 
town of Williams, at the base of Williams Mountain, 
and winds and twists in a tortuous manner through 
a comparatively level country for about one hundred 
miles, but fifty miles from the Grand Canyon it 
enters the bluffs of the southern slopes of the Kai- 
babs, and becomes a wildly romantic canyon, in the 
heart of which live the interesting tribe of Indians 
known as the Havasupais. From this canyon 
radiates an intricate series of smaller but grand 
canyons. It is the latter canyon to which this and 
the succeeding chapter are devoted, and it is referred 
to throughout this work by the name given to it by 
the Indians, viz., the Havasu, or Canyon of the Blue 
Water. 

In the stupendous majesty of its walls, their close 
proximity to each other, and, consequently, in nar- 




( /.'.,-' J^'''U by F- H. Maude. 

At the Head of Topocobya Trail into Havasu Canyon. 



THE GRAND CANYON 257 

rowness, Havasu Canyon more nearly approximates 
to the popular idea of a canyon than the Grand 
Canyon itself. In this regard it is similar to, though 
surpassing, the canyon of the Little Colorado, and 
as the latter is practically inaccessible, and the former 
is so comparatively easy of access that I have taken 
my daughter into its inmost depths, I deem it 
appropriate that it should find a representative place 
in this book. It is a part, and a not insignificant 
part, of the Grand Canyon system. It is one of 
the most important of the southern tributaries of 
the Colorado River ; it is the home of a tribe 
of Indians whose history and e very-day life is insep- 
arably connected with the Grand Canyon, — a 
people who rudely engineered the whole of the 
trails described in this book from the Tanner- 
French Trail, nearest to the Little Colorado, to the 
Mystic Spring Trail on the west, — the six most 
important trails of the Grand Canyon, — so that 
the only reason against its introduction is that it 
cannot be treated in these pages as fully and satis- 
factorily as its importance and interest warrant. 

Ten years ago, in company with Mr. Bass and a 
special agent sent out to make overtures to the 
Havasupais to send their children to Fort Mohave 
to school, I made my first trip down the Topocobya 
Trail to the Havasupai village and the superlatively 
enchanting waterfalls, which have given their name 
to the canyon. 

The Indians call it the Canyon of Hahavasu, — 
the blue water, — a most appropriate and truthful 
designation, for the water we find on our arrival at 
the villages is of a singularly blue color. The In- 

17 



258 IN AND AROUND 

dians themselves are the Ha-ha-va-su-pai — the pal, 
people, of the va-su, blue, ha-ha, water. This is 
shortened into Havasupai, and by the miners and 
people of Arizona generally into "Supai." 

Leaving Bass Camp, we drive over a fair wagon 
road that mainly follows the long used Havasupai 
Trail from the village to Hue-tha-wa-li, which, as 
the reader will recall, is the Mount Observation of 
the Mystic Spring Trail. The whole wagon ride 
is through the pinion, cedar, and juniper forest that 
covers this portion of the southern edge of the 
Grand Canyon. There is nothing of peculiar inter- 
est in the ride, except that we pass one of the water- 
pockets of the Indians, — valuable to them beyond 
silver or sold, — a natural water hole in the lime- 
stone where the rain-water collects in sufficient 
quantities to last beyond the rainy season into hot 
and dry weather. It is about midway between the 
heads of Topocobya and the Mystic Spring Trails, 
and therefore most conveniently and appropriately 
located. It rejoices in the appellation of Ha-ha-ta- 
wal-ga. 

After about thirteen miles of this picturesque 
rolling forest and glade have been passed, the 
wagon is left, and provisions and bedding — if one 
is going for a prolonged stay — are placed on pack 
burros that have been driven on ahead, and we take 
the saddle on (jood horses or mules, sure of foot 
and steady of nerve, for we are going to descend 
a trail that tries the nerves of horses as well as 
men. Two miles of riding dow^n the gentle slopes 
of a " draw," where the Topocobya Canyon has its 
head, leads us to the point where this ticklish part 



THE GRAND CANYON 259 

of the trail begins. And it is well we were warned 
beforehand. We ride out upon a very small level 
space at the foot of the limestone walls that already 
besfin to hem us in, and from there take a look at 
the "jump off" down which we are expected to 
believe human beings have constructed a trail safe 
for us to travel. It is too much for even otcr cre- 
dulity. Directly before us — we are on its very 
brink — is a precipice of a thousand feet, that ap- 
pears to hollow in beneath us, so that we cannot 
see its base. There, far, far, but immediately be- 
low, is the dry bed of the stream, boulder strewn 
and rough, in which is our trail, and in that short 
lateral distance we must lower ourselves the thou- 
sand feet of this awful precipice. 

Ah ! what clever engineers these Indians of a 
past generation were ! To have seen the difficulties 
would have been enough to discourage ten genera- 
tions of school-trained engineers, but to the practical 
necessities of the Havasupai the natural obstacles 
of making this a place of ingress and egress were 
soon overcome. 

Follow with your eye Mr. Bass and the Indians 
who have come to meet us. To the right, on a 
narrow shelf, that seems a mere scratch on the face 
of this frightful cliff, they are riding or leading 
their horses. 

If they dare go, we dare also. 

So, following them, as they zigzag down the 
loose rocks and boulders that have fallen into this 
" Topocobya," sometimes going to the south, then 
to the north, with the advance members of the 
party now below us so that easily we could jump 



26o IN AND AROUND 

upon their backs, — in places where to give an 
enemy a love-tap with a fifty pound rock would 
have been, in purely Indian days, the most simple 
matter imaginable, — then straightening along on 
a shelf under the overhanging cliff, and descending 
over another hair-raising precipice, three steps hewn 
out of the solid, slippery rock, only to return to 
more " zig and zag," and " zag and zig," — tJiis is 
the occupation that arrests our attention for a full 
hour, the interest heightened by the constant solici- 
tation one feels as to whether the horse he is lead- 
ing will slip over him in the dangerous turns, or 
whether it will be possible to avoid scaring the 
horse on the shelf above that is advancing to the 
south as we studiously and carefully pick our steps 
to the north. If he falls he will surely bring down 
upon us a perfect avalanche of the rocks that line 
his perilous pathway. 

The Indians' name for this place is an appro- 
priate one. A "Topocobya" is any semi-circular 
declivity between two outstretched rocks, as at 
the fleshy curve between the finger and thumb. 

A short distance before reaching the dry bed of 
the stream the trail makes another detour to the 
left, landing us immediately at the base of the solid 
mass of limestone and sandstone, and there, indeed, 
are we surprised at finding ourselves suddenly 
within a secret recess of grandeur, fascination, and 
usefulness. Trickling down from the edges of the 
lowest layers of the rock is an almost imperceptible 
spring of water, but it is sufficient to comfortably 
fill three rocky basins, holding forty or fifty gallons. 
Rising up from these basins is the wall, — solid, mas- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



261 



sive, pitiless rock, — curving slightly outwards, so 
that, in its ascent, it soon completely overhangs 
and overshadows this cunningly hidden retreat. A 
chamber indeed for goddesses to bathe and sport 
in, unalarmed and fearless, for, provided the one 




Cofivright, 1890, by F. H. Ma-nde. 

At the Topocobya Spring. 



approach is protected, there is no spot around from 
vi'hich a peeping Tom may see what transpires. 

This trail and the spring are connected with 
the memory of the notorious John D. Lee, of the 
Mountain Meadows Massacre, for it was on the 
plateau above that he was discovered by the Hava- 
supais. Blindfolded, they led him down the canyon 
we are soon to traverse, to the hospitality of the vil- 
lage, where, for nearly three years he was generously 
entertained and cared for ; as completely lost to the 



262 IN AND AROUND 

outside world of wives, friends, church, and country, 
— all of whom were looking for him with varying 
dea^rees of eas^erness — as thouo-h he had no exist- 
ence whatever. 

Packs adjusted, saddles put back from the necks 
of the horses, and cinches tightened, we resume our 
journey. For a while — a mile or so — our trail is 
on the loose pebbles of the dry stream. The rock}' 
walls of sandstone and limestone tower precipitously 
on each side of us. This is Topocobya Canyon, 
a side canyon to the main Havasu (Cataract) 
Canyon, to which this leads us, and its junction 
with which we reach when about half the distance 
between the spring and the village is accomplished. 

All along this portion of our way are immense 
masses of rude conglomerate, — pebbles, rocks, and 
boulders imbedded in a softer substance which has 
hardened around them like mortar, — occupying 
such positions as demonstrate them to have been 
formed by slow accumulation in the former bed of 
the stream. Oftentimes they were directly in the 
course of the creek, which has washed through them 
and formed walls on either side through which we 
pass, fifty, a hundred, and even more feet high, thus 
showing the power of the occasional torrents which 
disturb this now quiet and dry ravine. 

The ravine soon cuts into the red sandstone, and 
rapidly we "drop" into it, leaving the gray walls, to 
be immediately hemmed in by the red. What a 
change of scenerv in a few minutes! These walls 
have marked stratification, and, as the erosion has 
cut down the rock, it has left terraces, revealing the 
lamination. These terraces are of varying sizes 



THE GRAND CANYON 



263 



and widths, and as we go lower and lower they are 
crowned with all the fantastic forms and figures 
that one can conceive. This w^ould have been a 
perfect treasure ground of suggestions for the medi- 
aeval sculptors who wanted hideous forms for gar- 
goyles for their churches and cathedrals. 




Overhanging Capitals on the Topocobya Trail. 



Now the canyon narrows, and all the loose 
pebbles and sand have been washed away. We are 
riding on the solid sandstone on a narrow ledge or 
shelf, and here, to the right, below us, the rock is 
scooped out into a series of rudely oblong water- 
pockets or bath-tubs, in which, after a rain or flood, 
water is always to be found. 

Now we descend from our shelf, by using the 
rock terraces as a stairway, back again to the bed 



264 IN AND AROUND 

of the stream. A trail horse is no more concerned 
about walking down or up these stairs, with a two 
hundred pound man upon his back, than a porter 
is concerned at carrying a ten-pound valise up a 
flight of stairs. 

" Let their bridles hang, — don't attempt to guide 
or control them. They understand their business 
and know the way far better than you. Keep 
your seat and enjoy the rugged picturesqueness of 
the scenery. They will do the rest in safety to 
themselves and you," is the advice of the guide. 

So, on they go, unw^atched by us. First on a 
shelf to the right, then on one to the left ; now up, 
now down, but always carefully and knowingly. 

At last we come to a ledge to the left which we 
feel we must watch. It remains almost on the level, 
whilst the stream bed to the right narrows and 
descends with fearful rapidity. Our trail dodges 
in and out, around immense boulders that have 
fallen from the walls above where stone toadstools 
stand threateningly toppling and near, and great 
petrified toads, w^eighing perhaps half a million tons, 
every moment startle us by their apparent readi- 
ness to jump. 

Every step reveals strange red sandstone houses, 
citadels, giants' heads, monster forms as various 
and inconceivable as those of summer clouds. 

" All off your horses ! " is the cry, and we 
dismount. We are about to make a perilous turn, 
where there is but room for the unencumbered 
horses; so, bridles in hand, we lead them, pass this 
danger spot, and find ourselves out of Topocobya 
Canyon upon a sliding, dangerous shelf in Rattle- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



265 



snake Canyon. The sandstone ledge upon which 
we now walk is two hundred feet or more above 
the bed of the stream. The surface of the ledge 
is rounded off and slopes rapidly towards the 
precipice edge. A slip or a stumble and a man 




Shields and Pictogkaphs on Walls of Havasu Canvon. 



or horse once started down that rounded surface 
would stop only on the ravine bed below, unless 
Providence specially interposed in his behalf. But 
as we are all sure-footed and steady-nerved, we 
reach the end of the shelf in safety, where another 
"flight of stairs" down the terraced edges of the 
rock brings us to the bed of the ravine, where, 
retracing our steps, w^e leave Rattlesnake Canyon, 
make a curve of a few feet, and are in Havasu 
(Cataract) Canyon itself. 



266 IN AND AROUND 

On the left is a large sandstone rock on which 
rude representations of the Great Serpent, various 
shields, hands, antelope, and men are depicted, 
all of which are held in great reverence by the 
Havasupais. 

The road, or trail, is now comparatively smooth 
and easy. The bed of the stream is rough, rocky, 
or sandy, and the walls grow more precipitous as 
we descend. The curves and angles of the ravine 
are more than we care to count, especially as the 
day is hot, the walls absorbing and then radiating 
the heat, until we long for the interior of a heated 
bake-oven as a change. 

Here to the left is Polyphemus Gorge. On the 
side face of the canyon is an immense cave where 
a hundred of Vulcan's monster workmen might 
commodiously have lodged; and a little way down 
the canyon are a thousand of the rocks they hurled 
at the poor Greeks as they sought to escape. Even 
all their gigantic power was needed to move these 
rocks, for the smallest of them weighs a score of 
tons. 

Down, down we go, the walls becoming more 
grand, more precipitous, more striking as we 
proceed. Now and again we come to a fallen 
boulder or splinter of rock, split from the great 
walls above. Some of them would form a quarry 
large enoufjh in themselves to build a structure as 
large as the Court House in Chicago, the Grand 
Hotel in Cincinnati, or even the Capitol at 
Washington. 

But our necks are tired, craning them to allow 
our eyes to see all, or half, the wonders of this shut- 



THE GRAND CANYON 267 

in red-rock Havasu Canyon, and we are glad, 
thankful, when at last, after about fifteen miles of 
horseback riding since we left the wagon at the head 
of Topocobya, there appears just ahead a fine grove 
of Cottonwood trees, and we hear the noise of much 






In the Havasu Canyon. 

flowing water, which Mr. Bass informs us is the 
bubbling out in a thousand springs, some as large 
as a horse's body, of the subterranean waters of 
Havasu Creek, which from now on boldly and 
openly fiow above ground to join the great Colo- 
rado fifteen or twenty miles farther on. 

This was my first trip down the Topocobya 
Trail. Since then I have been a dozen times, but 
I never weary of its grandeurs. A few years ago I 
took several friends, of whom two were ladies, — one 



268 IN AND AROUND 

my daughter, and the other a sweet-spirited, brave, 
and courageous woman from Chicago. We were 
somewhat limited for time, and, on making the 
return trip, left the Havasupai village late in the 
afternoon, hoping, by forcing the horses, to reach 
the wagon at the head of Topocobya Trail before 
dark. But it was more than we could accomplish, 
and by the time we arrived at the foot of the steep 
and dangerous thousand-feet-high trail it was so 
nearly dark that I viewed the ascent with feelings 
of anything but calmness and equanimity. 

And now, looking back upon it all, who can tell 
the horrors endured in that ascent ! 

Leaving Nellis and Symons at the junction 
where the trail went into Topocobya Spring to get 
provisions we had cached there on our way down, 
and to fill the canteens with water, the ladies and 
myself went on ahead. The trail was so steep that 
I disliked asking them to walk, and yet it was so 
dangerous I feared to allow them to ride. Here, 
indeed, also was another Scylla and Charybdis. I 
wanted to caution them, and yet I knew if I did so 
I should arouse within them the dread I wished to 
avoid, and thus make possible the danger I feared. 
So I said nothing. 

We rode up in the rapidly growing darkness, 
taking a few yards at a time, and then stopping to 
rest the horses. Higher we went, zigzagging to 
and fro, until now it was so dark that my horse 
appeared to have no head, and not a sign of the 
trail did the most piercing glances reveal. Should 
we dismount .? No; better ride a little farther and 
then get off. So on we went. As I called back. 



THE GRAND CANYON 269 

both ladies answered, "All right!" to my inquiries 
as to their comfort and readiness to ride farther. 
At last a turn was made, which, in a moment or 
two, I knew would bring us to the most dangerous 
and critical part of the trail. It was a steep slope 
leading on to the narrow shelf before referred to 
which went close up against a frightful overhang- 
ing wall, and there made an acute angle to the left, 
at the same time ascending three steep stone steps, 
on the topmost of which the trail sharply angled 
again to the left immediately above the trail over 
which we had just ridden, and on an equally nar- 
row shelf. And here was the terrible danger ; be- 
low the three stone steps was a drop of two or 
three hundred feet. Far quicker than it has taken 
me to wTite this, I was on the shelf, and as my 
horse turned to climb the steps I could feel the 
yawning blackness to my right. Should I make the 
ladies dismount ? I knew the horses could take 
the steps all right if they were left alone, and so, 
as I did not wish to arouse their fears, I let them 
come on without any warning, trusting to the 
watchful care of an all kind Providence to bring 
them safely over the dangers. As soon as I 
reached a place where the trail slightly widened, 
drawing rein, I breathlessly awaited the coming of 
my companions. My daughter's horse walked 
along step by step without a stumble or a fault, 
and in a few moments I breathed an inaudible 
but none the less sincere " Thank God " as her 
horse stopped close to mine. Then, calling out 
encouraging words to Mrs. Long, she came nearer, 
— on to the lower shelf, — I could almost see her 



270 



IN AND AROUND 



in my agony of suspense. Then I heard her horse 
turn upon the rocky steps, and I began to breathe 
more freely, when, the noise of his stumbling hoofs 
aroused awakening echoes from the rocky walls, 
which sounded louder than fiercest thunder, and 
instantly stopped the frantic pulsations of my heart. 
In another moment I almost fainted as the dull 




Copyright, 1899, by F. H. Maude. 

On the Topocobya Trail Steps, where Mrs. Long's Horse 

FELL. 



thud of a falling body reached my ears, immediately 
followed by a low groaning " Oh, dear ! " I waited 
for a moment to hear what of all sounds I dreaded 
most to hear, — the shock of the body falling 
upon the rocks at the foot of that frightful preci- 
pice, — and never was soul more thankful than I 
to hear nothing more than a loud sigh, as of one 
in a deep swoon. Flinging myself from the saddle, 
I handed the reins to my daughter as I passed, 
bidding her dismount also ; and then carefully has- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



271 



tened to the steps, hopes and fears alternately 
chasing themselves through my heart. Would the 
clumsy horse step upon our friend ? Would she 
move in her unconsciousness and roll from the 
steps into the abyss ? Would my going back 
frighten the horse so that he would lose his foot- 
ing on the narrow shelf where he stood ? Could 
I possibly pass him at this critical spot? These 
and many other questions flashed through my brain 
like lightning as I crawled on the shelf. The horse 
answered some of them by rushing past me, and I 
felt thankful to have him out of the way, even 
though he nearly pushed me into the deep, dark 
blackness. Another moment and I was by the side 
of the insensible woman, her deep sighs satisfying 
me that she was still alive, but the darkness render- 
ing it impossible to tell how seriously she was in- 
jured. Lifting her in my arms, I managed to reach 
the other shelf and the widened trail. But our 
coming startled her horse, and as he ran forward 
he frightened the two horses ahead which my 
daughter was holding, and the next moment we 
heard all three dashing up the trail at full speed. 
Surely the bars that the Indians had put across 
the upper portion of the trail to prevent stock from 
escaping would arrest their flight ! But no, just at 
the same moment that I reached the place where 
my daughter stood trembling at this new disaster, 
I heard the sound of poles and bars as they were 
whirled aside by the fleeing horses, and then I 
knew that they had escaped, and soon would be 
roaming through the boundless forest and plains 
above. By this time, however, Mrs. Long had re- 



272 IN AND AROUND 

covered enough from the shock to ask where she 
was and what was the matter. A few minutes' 
more rest and she thought she could slowly pro- 
ceed up the trail, so that, on reaching the top, I 
might follow and endeavor to recapture the horses, 
while she and my daughter awaited the arrival of 
Symons and Nellis from the spring. But it w^as 
slow work. Mrs. Long was so shaken and bruised 
that she could take only a few steps at a time, and 
to accomplish these she had to be sustained. It 
was with a deep sigh of relief that my thankfulness 
was expressed when we reached the top of the trail. 
But even now our difficulties were by no means 
over. Our wagon, with all our camp equipments, 
was over two miles away. It was pitch dark. The 
horses that Nellis and Symons were bringing were 
heavily laden, and we had no saddle. Even had 
there been one, Mrs. Long was incapable in her 
present condition of sitting upon a horse alone. 
We were indeed in a frightful plight ! I felt I 
must follow the horses, as without them we could 
not get back to the railroad, and yet I felt it was 
brutal to leave my timid and shrinking daughter 
with a possibly seriously injured woman alone in 
the darkness, in a locality where the wild howls of 
coyotes and other night animals were constantly 
heard. I could only do what I thought was best, 
and, brave women! without a word of selfish mur- 
mur or complaint, they both urged me to follow 
the horses, while they promised to sit content on 
the rocks and await the coming of the men. With 
a prayer to God for their protection I plodded 
along in the darkness, running where I knew the 



THE GRAND CANYON 273 

trail was reasonably safe, and crawling in one or 
two places where the memories of former rides 
along sides of yawning chasms made me somewhat 
uncomfortable. 

Occasionally I stood and listened, ready to re- 
turn if the ladies called for me, and hoping also 
that I might hear the horses. Soon I was satisfied 
that they were not far ahead, and after a while I 
heard them stop for a little, and I knew that they 
had found grass. But the moment they heard me 
they were off again, and a half-dozen or more at- 
tempts to steal upon them soon satisfied me that 
it was a hopeless task to endeavor to catch them 
unless I climbed up the steep sides of the canyon, 
— for even though we were out of the steepest part 
of the canyon, we were still in a place where the 
talus on either side was more precipitous than I 
cared to adventure in the night-time. So, relin- 
quishing the chase, I returned to the ladies. It 
was not long before Symons and Nellis also ap- 
peared. And then began our walk, in the dark, over 
the longest, dreariest, most discouraging two miles 
of trail it has ever been my misfortune to travel. 
Those two miles stretched out interminably. The 
darkness got blacker, as if to completely bury us 
from the sight of Heaven. And it did, indeed, 
seem as if we were forsaken of all the good powers 
of the universe. I was the only one who knew 
anything about the trail, so w^earily I plodded 
ahead, feeling for the narrow trodden path with 
my feet, and occasionally lighting a match to see 
that we were all right. My daughter follow^ed, lead- 
ing one of the horses, then came Symons, half 

18 



274 IN AND AROUND 

carrying Mrs. Long, and the procession was closed 
with Nellis and the other horse. It seemed to me 
the hours lengthened into weeks of darkness before 
we reached the wagon. With what joy we gained 
the crest of the short but steep hill on which our 
wagon stood, few can understand. A fire was 
soon lit, provisions cooked, and around the camp- 
fire we ate and drank all we needed. ThouQ^h 
completely unnerved by her fall, and wearied out, 
we "were now assured that Mrs. Long had received 
no serious injury, and this made our hearts light. 
But, oh ! how weary we all were ! Almost too weary, 
even after our refreshinsf meal and stimulatino; 
coffee, to stretch out our blankets and crawl in 
between them. 

But poor Nellis ! even this enjoyment was denied 
him. Throwing a saddle over one of the horses, 
he followed the three that had escaped, and we were 
quite willing to be awakened out of our sound repose 
by his return just before dawn with the truant 
animals. 

In two days more we were at the railroad and on 
our way to visit Acoma, the City of the Cliffs, and 
in the excitement of the strange scenes there wit- 
nessed, the adventures of Topocobya Trail were 
almost forgotten. 



THE GRAND CANYON 275 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE HAVASUPAI INDIANS AND THEIR CANYON 

HOME 

OF no tribe of Indians in the United States has 
more wild nonsense and foolish exao^oreration 
been written than of the Havasupais. Men who 
merely heard of, but never saw them, wrote outra- 
geously false accounts as to their place of residence, 
their stature, their ferocity, their clifF-dwellings, and 
of a tiny people w^hom they held in cruel slavery 
and degrading bondage. Such statements could 
not be controverted, as not ten white men could be 
found fifteen years ago who had ever visited the 
Havasupais in their canyon village, or knew any- 
thing whatever of their life and habits. 

The name by which the Havasupais were known 
to the Spaniards, and which they have bequeathed 
to us, is " Coconino " (Kohonino). This has led some 
writers to confuse the names Havasupai and Coco- 
nino (Kohonino), and speak of them as distinct 
tribes, the one inhabiting Havasu Canyon and the 
other the region known as the Coconino (Kohonino) 
Forest. It is clear, from the name that the present- 
day Zunis give to the Havasupais, that the Span- 
iards obtained the name from them. The Zunis 
speak of the tribe as Kuhni kwe, and of the region 
they inhabit as Kuhni. Remembering Spanish 
pronunciation, it is not difficult to assume the meta- 



276 IN AND AROUND 

morphosis of Kuhni kwe into Coconino — Ko-ho- 
ni-no. Sitgreaves changed it again to " Cosninos," 
and tells of some mules stolen from him by them, 
and Lieutenant Ives, who descended the Wallapai 
Trail, names them Yampais. The common desig- 
nation for them nowadays in Arizona is Supais, 
though the name means nothing, and is a dividing 
of their word for blue, va-su, B-ud />ai, people. 

In the preceding chapter I have described the 
journey down the Topocobya Trail as far as the 
cottonwoods and the place where the creek bubbles 
out in a thousand springs. Here begins the home 
of the Havasupais. 

The village occupies the whole length and width 
of the canyon for a distance of some three miles, 
beginning at the schoolhouse, and continuing below 
Navaho Falls, near to the upper portion of Bridal 
Veil Falls. The river or creek winds irregularly 
along, first on one side and then on the other, flow- 
ing with great rapidity ; occasionally arrested by a 
well-constructed dam, which thus forms a large 
reservoir, admirably adapted for the purposes of a 
swimming pool. Almost the entire length of the 
creek, both in the village and below the falls, is 
lined with willows, Cottonwood, mesquite, or other 
green trees ; hence the name bestowed upon the 
people by Cashing, — " The Nation of the Willows." 
No people on earth have a more picturesque home. 
Rugged grandeur, combined with quiet beauty ; 
flowing water with ponderous rocky walls ; blue 
sky and blue water, — ha-ha-va-su ; green trees and 
red precipices ; tiny ha-wa's where merry naked 
children gambol, laugh, and play ; fertile fields in 



THE GRAND CANYON 



277 



which men and women patiently labor ; sheltered 
nooks under shady trees, where women deftly weave 
water-tight baskets, dress buckskin, or grind their 
corn or grass-seeds ; gossiping places where men sit 
and talk over the faults and frailties of women, or 
where old men tell of the "days of the long ago" 
'' when the world was young " and the coyote ate the 
heart of their ancestors, and made the deeps of 
their canyon home, — these are what one sees. The 
walls of the canyon at this point are in the red sand- 
stone of the carboniferous, and their deep, rich, 
beautiful red is the dominant color. Seen in the 
upper part of the canyon, before the village is 
reached, and without the contrasting effects of the 
varied greens of the trees and fields, the red be- 
comes monotonous, but here it is never wearisome, 
never obtrusive. Here and there where the walls 
are a little more broken, or the canyon a trifle 
wider, one may see the red strata above, the talus 
sloping backward and leading to the great precipices 
of the cross-bedded sand and limestone. These are 
lighter in color than the red, and, when illuminated 
by the direct rays of the sun while the red below 
is in shadow, the picture scarcely seems like solid, 
unyielding rock, but a fairy vision fit for the setting 
of some Arabian Night's tale. 

That night we were invited to camp at the ha-wa 
of Tom, the kohot Navaho's eldest son. A kohot 
of the Havasupais is the chief. Navaho was the 
kohot, but there were four sub-chiefs or kohot- 
kedjes, and Tom was the senior of these four. 
Calling to his eldest daughter, Jennie, Tom bade 
her wash her hands — in several waters, which she 



2/8 IN AND AROUND 

dutifully did — in order that Mr. Bass and his white 
friends might be fully assured of their cleanliness, 
and then calling upon the former for rneala — flour, 
— meiila — sugar, coffee, — sci — bacon, — she made 
as good biscuits (baked in a Dutch oven) as hungry 
men ever ate, ground the coffee and nicely prepared 
it, fried the bacon, brought in a dozen fine roasting 
ears of corn (to me the most delicious portion of 
the meal), and a large kit-u — basket — of peaches. 
Spreading one of our blankets on the ground and 
placing the food thereon, she called to us to " sit up 
and eat." We were not loath to do so, but we were 
all somewhat amused, and poor Jennie considerably 
chao^rined, to find that, not beino: accustomed to the 
white man's salty bacon, she had liberally sprinkled 
it with salt as if it had been a mess of fresh deer or 
antelope. 

Poor Jennie, — she had a tragic history and 
equally tragic death ; and some day, if no pen 
more gifted than mine makes her its theme, I shall 
endeavor to do full justice to the memory of one 
who, though a dark-skinned Indian, was tender, 
true-hearted, devoted to principle, and steadfast to 
what she conceived to be right, even " unto death." 

No sooner were we fairly established at Tom's 
ha-wa than the Indians began to flock around the 
place in the hope of speedily reaching Mr. Bass. 
Their devotion to him and his to them was touching 
in the extreme, and, in the many trips I have made 
to the Havasupais, generally in his company, I can 
testify to the truth of the following statement, which I 
quote from an account (that has a place in my scrap- 
book) of some visitor's trip to Havasu Canyon. 



THE GRAND CANYON 279 

" Everywhere the Indians had something to tell Mr. Bass, 
my guide ; now it was a tale of sorrow, sickness, or death; 
now asking for advice, now wishing him to settle some dif- 
ficulty for them. He listened to it all very patiently, and 
always had a word of comfort for them. All the money 
he had he gave them, and from his supplies he took flour, 
sugar, matches, baking soda, and other things to distribute 
among them. I also gave them all the change I had, for 
nowhere was it more needed than among this destitute 
people." 

That night, as I stretched out on the sand in my 
blankets, outside of Tom's ha-wa, the grandeur of 
the stupendous walls of the canyon impressed me 
more than they had during the day. Was there 
ever such a sublime place before used by man as a 
site for his home ? Travellers come back to their 
native land full of descriptions of the great temples 
of the Nile and the wonderful ruins of vast struc- 
tures found elsewhere in the world, but where has 
man ever contrived and erected dwellino^s between 
walls of rich red sandstone, formed of layers so per- 
fectly and harmoniously placed that they appear 
as if laid by a master mason, and that tower into 
the pure cobalt sky, two thousand feet and more 
above ? A sensitive soul is ever awed, a petty soul 
dwarfed, and a religious soul elevated by contempla- 
tion of them, 

I was invited to share Tom's ha-wa, but when I 
found that in that one hut not only his own family, 
— himself, wife and several sons and dausrhters, — 
but also a number of relations, male and female, 
were also to be accommodated, I declined the offered 
hospitality with thanks. 



28o 



IN AND AROUND 



Next morning saw the beginning of my studies 
of the Havasupais, which have afforded me much 
pleasure and gratification ever since. Not far 
away was an aged and almost helpless old man, 
perfectly nude, struggling under a wicker frame 




To-HOL-wou Fra.me. 



which his daughter covered over with blankets. A 
basket holding water was placed inside, and every 
few minutes she thrust hot rocks under the blan- 
ket. Before long the old man was sweating vigor- 
ously, but he remained in the to-hol-woh for fully 
twenty minutes longer. Then, hastily casting aside 
the blankets, the woman poured two or three large 
ollas-fuU of cold water over her helpless parent, after 
which she wrapped him up in one of the blankets 
and left him to dry in the sun. 



THE GRAND CANYON 281 

This primitive Russo-Turkish bath is largely 
used by the Havasupais, and I have seen a score 
of men after taking it dash into the deep pools of the 
creek, bathe for half an hour or more, and then stretch 
out and enjoy the warmth of the sun. A couple of 
weeks ago (August, 1899) I was invited by some 
of my Havasupai friends to enjoy To-hol-woh with 
them. The ground inside the wicker frame was 
neatly covered with a layer of beautiful willow twigs, 
and then the blankets pinned over the frame. By 
the side of the to-hol-woh was a log fire, in which 
two or three scores of rocks were placed so as to 
become thoroughly heated. I was honored by be- 
ing asked to become the first to take a seat in the 
frame. Two others then followed, the blanket 
"door" was shut, and three or four hot rocks 
placed to the right of the opening. My vis-a-vis, 
one of the medicine men, immediately began a wild, 
exciting song, in the erratic music of which I en- 
deavored to join, while I exercised all my attention 
to get at the words. I was able to catch enough to 
explain that the song is a recital of the advice given 
to the earliest Havasupais by their gods, Ho-ko- 
ma-ta and To-cho-pa, that they must never neglect 
To-hol-woh. 

" My children, my children, listen to me while to you I speak 

earnestly. 
I love you, or why should I have brought you into being. 
I am To-cho-pa, the god of your fathers, who came up to earth 

from the lowest recess ; 
'T was I who gave my daughter to be wooed of the sun and the 

water 
That you, my children, might be born and live upon the earth. 
To-hol-woh is good, my children, for I, To-cho-pa, give it to you. 



282 IN AND AROUND 

Make it of willows, green willows, that grow on the banks of the 

Havasu ; 
Cover it with willows and mud, that its heat may not be lost : 
In the fire place rocks, large and many, and make them fiery hot : 
Then, as brothers, each help the other, as you sit in To-hol-woh : 
Those without shall bring the rocks made hot with fierce and 

burning fire, 
And those within shall sing and tell the words I have taught. 
Oh, To-hol-woh, thou art a gift from To-cho-pa. 
Let the heat come, and enter within us, reach head, face, and lungs, 
Go deep down in stomach, through arms, body, thighs. 
Thus shall we be purified, made well from all ill, 
Thus shall we be strengthened to keep back all that can harm, 
For heat alone gives life and force." 

This is a very rough translation, but it adequately 
represents the song, shorn of its many repetitions, 
such as : — 

Let the heat enter our heads, 

Let the heat enter our eyes, 

Let the heat enter our ears. 

Let the heat enter our nostrils, 

and so on, line after line, stanza after stanza, until 
every known and unknown member of the body 
had been named. 

After two songs a basket full of water was handed 
to the priest, and he sprinkled it upon the hot rocks. 
In a moment the tiny place was filled with a fierce, 
biting steam, that made each breath seemingly of 
fire, and I almost shrieked with its burning force. 
But it was my intention to bear all I could, in reason, 
and the first few breaths taken I was able to join in 
another song (of the same burden) with earnestness 
and fervor. At its close another sprinkling of water 
and ascent of steam took place, and as hotter rocks 
had been inserted while we sang, it was all I could 



THE GRAND CANYON 



283 



do to endure this second dose. But there was an- 
other song and another steam due, ere the curtain 
was lifted and we came out. The priest stretched 
himself out in the sun, but the other victim, an In- 
dian (who seemed to have enjoyed it), and myself 
(who made believe he 
had), rushed to the 
creek, and there in a 
fine swimming hole 
revelled in the water. 
Then, after dressing, 
as I stretched out in 
the sun, I began to feel 
the refreshing effects, 
and no city Turkish 
bath ever surpassed it, 
though had the swim 
been followed with a 
well-administered 
massage, the later 
pleasures would have 
been much enhanced. 

On first arrival at 
the village one's at- 
tention is mainly at- 
tracted to the Indians themselves. 

There is as much love of ornament among them 
as is displayed by the Pueblos, but evidently poverty 
allows them less opportunity for its gratification. 
When possible, however, they will trade for or buy 
from the Zunis or Navahos silver rings, bracelets, 
necklaces, belts, bridles, etc., and they display them 
with gratification and pride. 




Copyright, 1898, by George Wharton James. 



Navaho, the Kohot, or Chief of 

THE HavASUPAIS. 



284 



IN AND AROUND 



Their domestic animals are mainly dogs, and a 
few cats are to be seen in some of the ha-was. The 
dogs are not well cared for, and they look like half- 
starved, wolfish creatures, that are neither useful nor 
ornamental. They are often tied out in the gardens 

and fruit patches to 
keep raccoons, foxes, 
and other predatory 
animals from destroy- 
ing the fruit. I have 
seldom seen a dog or 
a cat affectionately 
handled or petted, 
though it is no un- 
common sight to see 
a great hulking lad 
take a young puppy 
or a kitten and twist 
its front legs over 
upon its back, put it 
down, and laugh 
heartily as he watches 
its struggles to bring 
its legs back to a 
normal position. 
Only the other day I saw a dozen big lads sur- 
rounding a young raccoon, one of whose feet was fast 
in a steel trap. They kicked and otherwise abused 
it, set their dogs upon it, and enjoyed to the full the 
horrible tortures of the poor creature, and were sur- 
prised when I insisted that it be immediately put 
out of its misery. 

And yet parents are invariably kind and affection- 




Cofiyrig/tt, ISyS, by Georgt- U Iiarton James. 

Oldest Squaw of the Kohot 
Navaho. 



THE GRAND CANYON 285 

ate to their children, and never seek to control them 
by either harsh words or actions. The latter are 
seldom disobedient to the expressed or known 
wishes of the former. As a rule the old people are 
well cared for. They are watched and tended not 




Chick-a-pan-a-gi. 

only by their own relatives and friends, but the whole 
tribe takes a kindly interest in their welfare. 

There is no definite method of giving names to 
Havasupai children, many of them having none at 
all until near or after the age of puberty. A name 
will be given because of some personal, facial, or 
strong mental characteristic, or in ridicule of some 
habit or other. For instance, one boy that I knew 



286 



IN AND AROUND 



was named Chi-i-wa, he having a goitre, and that 
being its Havasupai name. Chick-a-pan-a-gi (bat) 
received his name from the striking similarity his 
face at times presents to that of a bat. Pu-ut was 
very proud of a Mexican sombrero that was given 

to him, and wore 
J'l^ww*' , ^'^ -^.--X...^ it in and out of 

season, day and 
night; c o n s e- 
quently its name 
(pu-ut) was given 
to him. One child, 
in her mother's 
arms, naked, 
plump, and round, 
was seen imper- 
fectly by the wife 
of the teacher, and 
turning to the 
mother she asked : 
"What's that? 
A watermelon ? " 
And from that 
one remark the 
child has received 
its name for life, viz., Somaja — the watermelon. 

Another child was given a pair of black pants, — 
mi-ki-u-la, — and, expressing his unbounded delight 
in them, the name was given to him. It sticks, and 
will stick until some important and striking event 
happening in his life suggests a change. 

Some of the elders thus have several names, as has 
Vesna, who is also called Pu-ut. 




I'/jv /t,'/;/, i(S;y.S', /y George Wharton James 



Man-a-ka-cha, present Kohot, or 
Chief of Havasupais. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



287 



Many of the names given are proofs of the rude, 
lusty animality of the people, for they are untrans- 
latable to ears polite, though to the Havasupais they 
are every-day words and suggest no offence. 

A great source of amusement to the little chil- 




Copyright , 1S98, by George Wharton James. 

Havasupai Girls playing Game of Hui-ta-qui'-chi-ka. 



dren — especially the girls — is tossing three or 
four hard small melons as the jugglers do, seeing 
how many they can keep in the air at one time. 
Often have I seen four, and sometimes five and six, 
kept up together. Their eyes and quick, active 
motions make this an interesting occupation to 
witness. 

Another game, called Hui-ta-qui'-chi-ka, is played 
as follows : — 

Squatted around a circle of small stones, the 
circle having an opening at a certain portion of 



288 IN AND AROUND 

its circumference, called the Yam-si-kyalb-yi-ka, 
and a large flat stone in the centre, called Tad-bi- 
■c/iz, the HavasLipai Indians play the game called 
Hiii-ta-qtii' -cJii-ka. Any number of players can 
engage in the game. These players are chosen 
into "sides." The first player begins the game by 
holding in his hand three pieces of short stick, 
white on one side and red on the other. These 
sticks are called Toh-be-ya, and take the place of 
our dice. Rapidly they are flung upon the centre 
stone, — Tad-bi-chi-ka, — and as they fall, counts are 
made as follows : — 

3 whites up lO 

2 whites and i red up 2 

2 reds and i white up 3 

3 reds up 5 

Tallies are kept by placing short sticks between 
the stones — '' hiii'" — that compose the circle, one 
" side " counting in one direction from the opening 
Yam-si-kyalb-yi-ka, and the other " side " keeping 
tally in the opposite direction. 

Of late years this gamic has been one of the 
most popular forms of gambling with the Hava- 
supai, and even the girls now play it, gambling for 
safety-pins or other girls' treasures. 

But space forbids lengthened description of this 
interesting people. Elsewhere I must write more 
fully about them. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



289 



CHAPTER XXVni 

HAVASU (CATARACT) CANYON AND ITS WATERFALLS 
AND LIMESTONE CAVES 

IT is at the foot of the cottonwood trees before 
mentioned that Havasu Creek bubbles up in a 
thousand springs to enjoy an open-air existence for 




Navaho Falls, Havasu Caxyox. 



the remainder of its journey to the Colorado River. 

It is no figure of speech to say a " thousand springs," 

for the creek is alive with them all the way down, 

some small and others as large as a man's thigh. 

19 



290 



IN AND AROUND 



At Navaho Falls, half a mile below the village, the 
stream is fully ten feet wide and about four feet 
deep, and flows rapidly. As the water emerges 
from the ground it is neither cold nor pure. It 
is slightly warm, and though clean to the eye, is 
heavily charged with lime and oxides. 

These sediments are answerable for the astonish- 
ing process which is constantly in operation imme- 
diately below the Havasupai village. They rapidly 
solidify, clinging to anything that affords sufficient 
resistance to overcome the force of the current. It 
seems that at some remote period the inner chasm 
below where the Indians now live became gorged 
and choked at different points by falling boulders, 
thus forming a base for the cataracts and waterfalls 
it now contains. The velocity of the current was 
checked, its carrying capacity reduced, and the 
work of building up commenced. Destruction at 
one point, reconstruction at another. Trees, vines, 
etc., took root in the alluvial deposits. Each suc- 
cession of vegetation became enwrapped in a solid 
casement of lime, while the sand and debris were 
held in check and firmly cemented together in a 
conglomerate mass. For ages the solidifying pro- 
cess has been going on, building outward and up- 
ward. Miles and miles of this conglomerate or 
native concrete may here be seen, as well as the 
processes of manufacture in active operation. There 
are tree trunks, doubtless encased when growing, 
and now exposed by later erosion of the surround- 
ing deposit. Scores of caves are found, full of red- 
dish, creamy accretions, some as delicate as the 
finest ferns, others that rival the cobwebs in their 



THE GRAND CANYON 291 

frailty and surpass them in beauty. Above Navaho, 
Bridal Veil, and Mooney Falls one may spend hours 
ransacking these repositories of exquisite workman- 
ship " not made with hands," and by the sides of 
Bridal Veil and Mooney Falls, in places over which 
the lime-charged waters used to flov/, especially 
beautiful specimens of these accretions are to be 
found. Just below Bridal Veil Falls is a great mass 
of this " concrete," reaching almost the entire width 
of the canyon. It is covered by a wild tangle of 
trees, shrubs, and undergrowth, yet careful study of 
its surface demonstrates that it was once the retard- 
ing pathway of the creek, which, at some impetu- 
ous period in its history, when made swollen and 
fierce by flood waters, rasped and cut a narrow way 
to the right, through which it still flows. For, 
allowing for the natural erosion, this wall — which 
is approximately from sixty to one hundred feet 
deep, an eighth of a mile wide, and a quarter of a 
mile long — presents the same appearance as the 
quarter or half mile in the narrow canyon above. 

Here the bed of the stream, which extends across 
the entire canyon, is covered in many places with a 
growth of Cottonwood trees. Wherever a root has 
been exposed the solidification of the carbonates 
has taken place, and, as one stumbles and jumps 
his way along, he crosses scores of small, large and 
larger basins, some of them ten, fifteen and more 
feet deep, and equally wide and long, all made by 
the upbuilding of these sediments clinging to roots, 
fibres, or arrested debris. Nothing can be more 
strange and picturesque than these basins. They 
remind one somewhat of the geyser basins in the 



292 IN AND AROUND 

Yellowstone, but, being surrounded and overshad- 
owed by trees, and filled with clear running water, 
and extending for a long distance, they are far more 
attractive and romantic. 

In trying to reach Beaver Falls, which is several 
miles below Mooney Fall, I found hundreds of 
these basins. Indeed, the only way my companion 
and I could make progress was by swimming the 
pools, one after another, where the concrete edges 
were too weak or narrow to allow us to walk over 
them. This was exhausting^ and wearisome work, 
and, after three miles of it, we determined to go no 
farther, and with difficulty struggled, waded, and 
swam our way back. Never again since have I 
tried to reach Beaver Falls ^/la^ way. 

There are five waterfalls in Havasu Canyon. The 
first is Havasupai Falls, a small but picturesque 
" splurge " of waters not far below the village. The 
next, a few hundred yards farther down, is Navaho 
Falls, more pretentious and strikingly beautiful ; but 
it is so inferior to the next falls, generally known as 
Bridal Veil Falls, that in these already too-expanded 
pages I must forego the pleasure of describing it. 

Bridal Veil Falls — Wa-ha-hath-peek-ha-ha — is, 
to my mind, the most exquisitely beautiful water- 
fall in the world. There is nothing in the Yosemite 
that, for rich delicacy of beauty and rare combina- 
tion of charms, can equal it. Sit down in the grass 
in the magnificent amphitheatre built by Nature 
immediately before it, and drink of its delicate 
beauty to the full. Na}^! you cannot do that in 
one hour's view. You must study it ere you can 
know all that makes it what it is, " a thing of beauty 



THE GRAND CANYON 



293 



and a joy forever." To the left and right are 
towering cliffs two thousand feet high, of red sand- 
stone. At your feet is rich green grass, and a deli- 
cate gauzy growth, as fine as asparagus grass which 
covers the ground with fairy-like lace and makes 
a carpet fit for 
a " Midsummer 
Night's Dream " 
dance. Above, 
just on the edge 
of the fall, are 
several trees, rich 
in their new dress 
of spring leaves, 
with the red moun- 
tains and azure 
sky, as richly blue 
as that of the Medi- 
terranean, form- 
ing a singularly 
picturesque back- 
ground for the 
incomparable fall 
underneath. The 
leafy branches 

overhang the falling water, and drop down so as 
to mingle their green with the blue and green of 
the water and the fluffy white spray of the fall, 
whilst ivy, peculiar vines, climbing clematis, maiden- 
hair and other ferns, columbines, and rich and rare 
mosses, in a perfect revelry of green shading, cover 
the rocky setting of the fall with a grace and elegance 
that would be at once the envy and the despair of any 




Bridal Veil Falls, Havasu Canyon. 



294 IN AND AROUND 

landscape artist. But even this does not complete 
the description of the background of the fall. The 
sediment in the water, before spoken of, combined 
with the small shrubs, etc., which grow profusely, 
has made a number of caves — some laro^e, others 
small, as if a number of umbrella trees, growing up- 
right on the face of the cliff, had been drenched 
with water, and then, whilst the water was still fall- 
ing, by some magic art, trees, leaves, branches, and 
water had all become red stone. Now, with such a 
background, enjoy the fall — Wa-hath-peek-ha-ha. It 
is not one sheet of water, as the Niagara or Vernal 
or Nevada or Yosemite, but there are at least five 
hundred different streams, one large, three or four 
lesser ones, and the remainder mere tiny baby falls, 
which, flowing over the varied red and green behind, 
make up this fairy-like scene. Fairy-like } Yes, 
indeed it is ! Shut out the world beyond from your 
thought, let your imagination have free play, and in 
five minutes Oberon and Titania, and all the hosts 
of Shakespeare's fairyland, are dancing on the grass, 
merrily tripping in and out of their own caves be- 
hind the falling water, laughing and playing with the 
dashing spray, while mermaids, tritons, and nereids 
splash and dash in the pools beneath as the water 
falls upon them. Pan is alive again ! His pipes 
are heard in the singing of melodious waters as 
they descend, and dash, and babble, and murmur 
and gurgle on their way to the far-off sea. 

In a booklet recently issued some one has had 
the effrontery to place the following as the title 
under an engraving of these falls : " The Hance 
Falls, Grand Canyon." Such a designation reflects 



THE GRAND CANYON 295 

no honor upon the author of the book, as it is a 
false and misleading title. These falls are not in 
the Grand Canyon, and the association with them 
of the above name, which is synonymous with noth- 
ing that is " beautiful, true, honest, pure, lovely, and 
of good report," is a desecration and an imperti- 
nence that every true soul will resent. 

There are four modes of descent to Bridal Veil 
Falls, all of which I have followed, though the way 
generally taken is the path on the left-hand side of 
Havasupai Canyon and down by the Miner's Trail. 
One may clamber down the side of Navaho Falls, 
or ofo alonsf the res^ular trail to the left until he 
comes to a break in the marble wall, which leads by 
a scary foothold here and there down to the open 
space a few hundred feet above the fall. Or, he 
may cross to the right-hand side of the canyon, 
either above or below Havasupai Falls, and then, 
tying his horse to an immense boulder on the 
plateau, scale the wall over and through the caves 
to the bed of the canyon which is seen to the left, 
when looking towards the falls from below. And 
what a descent that " climb " is ! First a few foot- 
holes cut into the rock, then through a manhole 
eight or ten feet deep into the heart of one of the 
great caves, before described, formed by the carbon- 
ate of lime in the waterfall of centuries ago when 
this was the place of its life, instead of fifty or one 
hundred feet away. Here another hole of fifteen 
or twenty feet is to be crawled through, and then 
more hand and foot holes, where one clings to 
the face of the wall as a cat climbs up a tree. 
It is ticklish work, and requires clear brain. 



296 IN AND AROUND 

steady eye, and strong muscles to accomplish it in 
safety. 

The caves here are the most beautiful and per- 
fect I have ever found. They are such caves as 
our childish imagination used to people with mer- 
maids under the sea, only all the seaweeds, kelp, and 
salt water are gone, and the caves are high and dry 
in the heart of this canyon. There are lace-work 
in most delicate tints, masses and masses of coral, 
and festoons of stone sponges in all the caves, and 
there are small caves leading from large caves, and 
caves within caves, caves below caves, caves above 
caves, and labyrinth after labyrinth of caves, all full 
of these exquisite and delicate specimens of lime- 
stone accretions. 

It appears as if tree branches, the leafage of 
shrubs, ferns, trailing vines, creepers, etc., had all 
been caught by the overflowing water, and bowed 
down in umbrella form, and there, in that position, 
coated with the red limestone deposit before referred 
to. Imagine a score or a hundred of these stone 
masses, appearing one above another, and all across 
the face of the cliff over which Bridal Veil Falls 
leap, irregular in arrangement, diverse in form and 
size, and yet all having the umbrella shape, and you 
have a faint conception of these peculiar and in- 
teresting formations. 

Of course only half the umbrella is presented. 
It is as if a large number of different-sized stone 
umbrellas had been cut in half, and then cemented 
on the rock wall for the water to tumble over. 

Inside and underneath each formation are stalac- 
tites and stalagmites, crystals, lime-covered moss. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



297 



ferns, vines, shrubs, tree trunks, branches, bunches 
of leaves, masses of debris, but all made into fairy- 
like lace-work by the slow weaving of the stone- 
laden waters. I have several tree roots and branches 
covered from half an inch to an inch in thickness 




Havasu between Bridal Veil Falls and Mooney Fall. 



with the stem still green and living within. I have 
seen scores of tree trunks, in the older formations, 
completely surrounded, sometimes the tree rotten 
to punk, in other cases so firm that they could be 
pulled out, thus leaving the stone matrix empty. 

From Bridal Veil Falls to Mooney Fall is a 
most interesting walk. There is just enough of 
adventure in it to give spice and vim, even for 
ladies ; but of course they, as well as the sterner 
sex, must dress in such a manner as to enable them 
to face the roughness without fear. The distance 



298 IN AND AROUND 

is a mile, and the first part of the trip is over the 
peculiar red limestone formation already described. 
There are acres and acres of it, piled up in some 
places two, three, or four hundred feet high. Tree 
trunks, branches, leaves, twigs, are still found em- 
bedded in the lithoid substance, and in the hidden 
recesses of the caves rare specimens may be found, 
as delicate in appearance as the finest Mexican 
filigree work, and yet ready to fall to pieces at the 
slightest touch. They are composed of the skeletons 
of leaves, plants, and flowers, covered with a very 
slight lime formation, as if the " troll " of the waterfall 
had but breathed on them as they decayed. 

Farther down, the surface of this formation has 
so disintegrated as to afford plentiful nourishment 
for plant and tree life, and there is an extensive 
area covered with a tans^le of cottonwoods and 
underbrush. Climbing up the sides of the canyon, 
which become deeper as we go farther down, are 
vines, clematis, ivy, and other creeping shrubs, and 
on examining these I was astonished and delighted 
to find, in a score of places, the water trickling 
down, filtered of its reddening substance, and de- 
positing its lime in a million fantastic forms on 
rocks, tree, fern, moss, and flower. Stalactites 
twenty feet long are found, hidden in tiny caves, — 
long narrow cracks, that just allow the pendent 
lime column to hang. By and by, if left undis- 
turbed, these columns will so expand as to fill up 
the crevices, and a limestone layer will be made, 
to be further solidified by time, and in after years 
to be exposed, perhaps, as an object lesson in 
geological infiltration. This is not mere theory. 




< 



THE GRAND CANYON 299 

for I have watched the processes on my different 
visits, and in many cases have found the growth 
of lithoid matter exactly as here described, both be- 
hind the falls and in the canyon wall crevices. 

Crossing the stream, in several places, on tree 
trunks, we come at last to a deserted mine. White 
men discovered a fairly rich silver mine, worked it 
for a time, built a trail at considerable expense out 
from the canyon to the plateau above, and then de- 
serted it. In rambling about the tunnels I found a 
couple of boxes and sacks, in which were sticks of 
dynamite, candles, etc., the latter gnawed by the rats. 
On the dump are still to be found good specimens 
of ore, bearing silver and gold in paying quantities. 

Just above Mooney Fall the creek flows directly 
under the right wall of the canyon. Its roar fills 
our ears as we walk with and wade in the stream, 
and at length we stand on the summit and look 
down through the spray and mist into the great 
basin below. We are able here to trace the path 
of this fall. The umbrella-shaped lithoid formation 
occurs here as at Navaho and Bridal Veil Falls, 
and, as the debris, washed down in the stream, has 
caught and solidified, the water has been diverted, 
first to one side, then to the other, until it has filled 
up the entire canyon from wall to wall with these 
beautiful appearances. 

To the left of the fall we are able to climb down 
over a number of these " umbrellas " to a lower 
level, and there we can obtain not only a better 
view of the fall, but can explore a score of the 
caves under the umbrellas, where most delicate 
specimens are to be obtained. 



300 IN AND AROUND 

This fall is named by the old Indians " Mother of 
the Waters," but by the whites, and now even by the 
younger Havasupais, Mooney Fall. This name was 
conferred upon it in memory of James Mooney, a 
mining prospector, who lost his life here in the 
year 1880. Mooney was a sailor, who, weary of his 
sea-faring life, settled at Prescott, Arizona, and 
became a miner. Learning of the Grand Canyon 
and its tributaries from cowboys and others who 
had traversed the banks of the great gorge, and 
doubtless fired with stories that have never ceased 
to circulate in this region about valuable mines dis- 
covered and worked by the Spaniards and the 
Indians and then abandoned, he with four others 
started from Prescott on a prospecting trip. They 
came in safety to the Havasupai village, and were 
hospitably received. Near the foot of Bridal Veil 
Falls they prospected and made some locations, 
and then pushed on until they reached the summit 
of these falls. Mooney, being the most adventur- 
ous of the party, urged an immediate descent to the 
lower plateau. How were they to reach the foot of 
the fall ? He would descend by means of the 
rope they had brought. One end was securely 
fastened above and the other thrown over the 
precipice. Without waiting to see whether the 
rope reached the bottom, Mooney grasped it in 
both hands, coiled it around his leg, and was soon 
slipping down to the depths beneath. His com- 
panions, unable to see him, waited long enough, as 
they thought, to enable him to reach the bottom, 
but no sign or signal did Mooney give. They 
tried, by peering over the precipice, to see where 



THE GRAND CANYON 301 

he landed, but in vain. Then one of them, seizing 
the rope, pulled upon it, and as it immediately 
yielded, found there was no one upon it ; conse- 
quently Mooney must have reached the bottom. 
But still he gave no signal. They shouted and 
shouted, but no answer was returned. At last, 
thoroughly alarmed, and fearing that their comrade 
had met with an accident, they sought a place from 
which they could see where the rope hung. To 
their horror they found that it did not reach to the 
bottom of the precipice, and saw that Mooney, 
relying upon its reaching the bottom, had dropped 
unknowingly and unconsciously to his death. He 
must have been so surprised when he came to the 
end of rope as to be incapable of giving any alarm, 
or, if he did so, its sound was lost in the roar of the 
falling water. It is possible that he discovered that 
the rope was too short, but in throwing it over 
the precipice he had carelessly allowed it to enter 
a crevice, which would prevent his pulling himself 
up hand over hand. However it had happened, 
there was no doubt as to his fall, for there he lay. 
In vain his friends tried to descend the tragic 
depths, and at last, finding it impossible, sadly they 
gave up the trip and returned to Prescott. It was 
not until ten months later that a party of them re- 
turned, so equipped that they were enabled to 
build and put in place a ladder, — which, in an un- 
safe and dangerous condition, still remained when I 
made my 1898 trip, — by means of which they de- 
scended. There they found the remains of their 
friend. Reverently they dug a grave, and covered 
all that was left of him who had gone to his death 



302 IN AND AROUND 

in so sudden a manner. When I first visited the 
fall, the grave of Mooney was still to be seen, 
although one end of it had been washed away 
during some unusual rise of the water in the can- 
yon. It has now completely disappeared. 

About six miles below Mooney Fall is a smaller 
cataract named Beaver Falls, from the large number 
of beaver constantly at work there. Five miles far- 
ther and the junction of Havasu Canyon with the 
Grand Canyon — Hack-a-tai-a — takes place. I 
have never seen this junction. Several times I 
have tried to reach it, but some unforeseen and un- 
provided for difBculty has always interposed. Some 
day perhaps I shall succeed. 

The Havasupais call the Grand Canyon Hack-a- 
tai-a Chic-a-mi-mi. The first word signifies any 
loud, roaring sound, whether caused by a fierce 
wind or the dashing of the waters ; the latter 
word means a large canyon. The Colorado River 
always gives this roaring noise, especially in the 
region of the rapids. So the name Hack-a-tai-a 
to them has come to mean the canyon as a whole. 
Hence, when a Havasupai would tell you he is 
going to the canyon, he says, " Ya-ma-gi Hack-a- 
tai-a," " I go to the place of the roaring sound." 
His own canyon is Havasu Chic-a-mi-ga — the 
small canyon of the Blue Water, Chic-a-mi-ga be- 
ing a small canyon. 



THE GRAND CANYON 303 



CHAPTER XXIX 

AN ADVENTURE IN BEAVER CANYON 

I HAVE had many a perilous adventure in my 
ten years of exploring in the canyons of the 
Colorado River, but none so peculiar as one I 
passed through this year (1899). My note-book, 
says : — 

" I sit here late in the afternoon of Saturday, Au- 
gust 3, 1899, alive, well, and happy. An hour ago 
my Indian guide and friend, — Wa-lu-tha-ma, — of 
the tribe of the Havasu, and myself were entrapped 
in a deep gorge, where the sun shines for but one 
or two hours in the day, between two precipices, 
the one descending over fifty feet and the other 
ascending about twenty-five feet. The space be- 
tween these two precipices is perhaps two hundred 
to two hundred and fifty feet long, and is occupied 
by a deep pool of water. An hour ago I almost 
despaired of leaving the place alive. Bruised, 
bleeding, exhausted with my futile endeavors to 
scale the smaller precipice down which we had 
come, I sank back into the deep water almost help- 
less, — the Indian had about given up in despair, 
when I determined upon making another and a 
different effort. 

" For years, as related in the preceding chapter, 
I have endeavored to reach the junction of Havasu 



304 IN AND AROUND 

(Cataract) Canyon with the main canyon of the 
Colorado River (Chic-a-mi-rai Hack-a-tai-a), but 
have not yet succeeded. Others starting from the 
Havasupai village claim that they have stood where 
the pure blue waters of Havasu Creek mingle with 
the dirty red of the Colorado, but my efforts have 
not been crowned with success. 

" On talking the matter over with Wa-lu-tha-ma, 
who with Yu-ta controls this portion of the canyon 
as a range for his stock, he suggested that, instead 
of descending to the foot of Mooney Fall, we ride 
along the plateau above, detour to the south to the 
head of a short but frightfully deep tributary can- 
yon known as Beaver Canyon, ascend to its head, 
and, starting down its bed, reach the junction that 
way. It is astonishing how easy such trips look 
when one is merely talking or writing about them, 
and how the difBculties magnify as the endeavor is 
being made. 

" I decided to attempt the descent the way Wa- 
lu-tha-ma suggested, and on Saturday, August 3, 
1899, the two of us set forth. We rode along on 
the edge of the canyon, on the plateau made by 
the long-ago denudation of the strata above, and 
at places came to where, without dismounting from 
my horse, I could look down into the frightful 
depths of the canyon to my right, to where the 
Cottonwood trees and flowing w^ater gave life and 
wondrous enchantment to what would otherwise 
have been an awful hell of barren rocks. For the 
walls here were not more than a couple of stone 
throws apart, — two hundred or three hundred yards, 
— and yet they were a sheer two thousand feet or 



THE GRAND CANYON 305 

more in actual, unbroken depth. No wonder that 
even the Indian kept as far away from the edge as 
he could. 

" All the morning we rode, turning at length from 
the southwesterly direction of the course of the 
canyon of the Havasu to the south, where the tribu- 
tary — Beaver Canyon — entered. This canyon at 
its junction with the Havasu is as majestic, grand, 
and awe-inspiring as the main canyon, but it 
rapidly narrows, going towards its head, until there 
are places where the sun seldom, if ever, reaches 
the bottom, — a canyon of perpetual gloom. To 
the head of this we rode, some three or four miles 
from the point of its junction. After finding water 
for our horses and turning them loose to graze 
until our return, — which we calculated might be in 
two or three days, — we prepared for the descent. 
We had provisions enough for scant three days, 
but they were hearty and good. Wa-lu-tha-ma 
took them on his back, and also carried two long, 
stout ropes, which we anticipated the possibility of 
needing. After walking down perhaps a quarter 
of a mile, we lunched and then pushed forward. 
In less than an hour we came to the place of our 
fate, — the place where I now write, and where Wa- 
lu-tha-ma lies asleep, wearied, exhausted with his 
heroic and successful climb back to life. Poor 
fellow ! it is time we were returning, but I have n't 
the heart to awaken him. Let him sleep and gain 
the rest he has well deserved, for had it not been 
for him I should be down below on the nether 
edge of that pool, shivering myself to death, a 
shiver more of fear than of cold. 



3o6 IN AND AROUND 

" We had passed one rather big downward jump 
caused by a blocking boulder when we came to 
this. Try to picture two marble walls, several 
hundred feet high and less than twenty feet wide. 
Immediately where we are two immense boulders 
of sandstone have fallen in, and, aided with lesser 
rocks, have completely blocked up the narrow 
space. To the right the tiny stream flows rapidly 
down the steep bed of the canyon. It dashes into 
a small pool under the larger of the two boulders 
and then down a marble slide or shute into the 
great pool beneath, which is fully twenty feet in 
depth at this end. When we reached this spot 
Wa-lu-tha-ma, after examining it, laughed and 
cried out, 'No in-yah-a' — no trail, no way, — and 
said we must go back. Seeing my intense disap- 
pointment, he looked again, and as I gazed into 
the dark pool of deep waters I asked whether 
he dare plunge into this deep reservoir, and swim 
to the farther end, and there look down to see 
what the prospects were for continuing our jour- 
ney. He said he would go if I would. We 
could tie the rope to a boulder above and then 
pull ourselves up after we had investigated the 
situation. 

" No sooner said than done. We undressed. I 
carelessly threw the rope over a boulder and asked 
him to fasten it before he ventured his weight 
upon it. Laughing and thoughtless, Wa-lu-tha-ma 
seized the rope without inspecting it, lowered him- 
self, and plunged in. Calling out that the water 
was 'ha-ni-gi!' — good — I followed, and, to my 
horror, just as I put pressure upon the rope it 



THE GRAND CANYON 307 

slipped from off the boulder and precipitated me 
into the pool. I sank, but my heart rose into my 
mouth, and I felt — what did I not feel? — as I 
came to the surface and looked up that horrible 
marble slide down which the w^ater was flowing, — 
as it had been doing for centuries, making the rock 
as smooth as if polished by a lapidary, — and up the 
other side where the sandstone boulder stood at 
an angle so slightly tilted from the perpendicular 
as to seem absolutely precipitous. How should 
we get back ? The Indian laughed with thought- 
less glee. ' No yarm-i-gi,' he cried, — ' no way of 
getting back.' Hastily I swam to the lower end of 
the pool and found worse conditions there than at 
the upper end. It was another precipice deeper 
than the one over which we had come, and at the 
foot of it another pool equally as large as the one 
through which we had swum. And what beyond? 
I did n't know, but Wa-lu-tha-ma did. There was 
no way out down there, he said, except to struggle 
on, naked as we were, to the junction of the Havasu, 
then up to Mooney Fall, and endeavor to climb 
out up the old and dangerous ladder. 

" This made even the Indian serious, and, swim- 
ing to the upper end, he tried and tried and tried 
again to scale the marble slide and the sandstone 
wall. But they were alike insensible to the danger 
of our state, and yielded not an iota of their impos- 
sible conditions. Then I tried, and the rough 
sandstone scraped away large pieces of my cuticle 
here and there, and the cruel marble bruised me 
almost everywhere as I slipped and slipped again in 
my desperate attempts to ascend. 



3o8 IN AND AROUND 

" Then it was that I thought of trying to remove 
a smaller boulder that acted as a keystone by the 
side of the great boulder that dammed the lower 
end of the pool. I thought if this could be taken 
up, a large amount of the water of the upper pool 
would flow away and give us a better chance for 
our escape, than struggling up a steep-faced rock 
directly from deep water. But Wa-lu-tha-ma 
thought the water better than nothing to fall back 
in. ' Nothing,' meant being bruised on the rocks 
beneath, and perhaps dashed to death. Then why 
not try to carry some of the smaller rocks; build 
up a standing place ; get it as high as possible ; 
then one of us stand on that to give the other a 
' boost ' up the rock to where, possibly, a hand- 
hold could be reached, and thus escape made 
possible. It was hard work to swim, sometimes 
on the surface, but oftener under the water, with 
heavy rocks in our hands, and it was frightfully 
slow work building up a pile high enough to be of 
any service. But we kept at it. Sometimes we 
got a rock half-way across the pool and were 
compelled to drop it. Then rising to the surface 
for air, we would float a moment or two, regain 
breath, strength, and courage, dive down, seize the 
rock, and with a desperate forward dive seek to put 
it in place. 

" At last I deemed the pile high enough. We 
sat down and rested, and studied out a plan of 
action. Wa-lu-tha-ma was to q;o first, oret on the 
pile, and obtain as good a hand and foot hold as he 
could. I was to follow, and, planting myself firmly 
on the rock pile, help him up in any and every 



THE GRAND CANYON 309 

way until he could stand on my body or shoulders 
or head, and thus get out. Fortunately we had a 
second rope above, so that it was not necessary for 
him to be weighted with the innocent cause of our 
misfortune as he made his endeavors. We did as 
we had planned. Twice he slipped back, and 
forced me to make a backward dive off the pile. 
But the third time he fairly seemed to hang on 
with his fingernails and eyebrows, while I braced 
myself to bear his strugglings as he stood on my 
body and shoulders reaching upwards. At last, 
with one shout and a grunt of content his weight 
left me, and he was safe on top. Joyfully I dived 
in, returned to the other end of the pool for the 
treacherously tied rope, swam back, and pulled 
myself out as Wa-lu-tha-ma held the other rope. 

" It is easy to laugh at it all, now that it is over, 
but as I stretch over Wa-lu-tha-ma's sleeping form 
ere I wake him, and look down into that deep 
shady pool, the 'shivers' go over me, and I ask 
myself two questions: What would I have done 
without Wa-lu-tha-ma ? and, Is there a Providence 
that watches over such a careless explorer as 
I am.?" 

We were tired out when we arrived late that 
afternoon at Wa-lu-tha-ma's ha-wa, which we had 
left in the morning. The Havasupais had openly 
prophesied that we could not make the descent, so 
I was not surprised, three minutes after our return, 
to see men, women, and children come around as 
if they had been on the lookout. As soon as 
possible Wa-lu-tha-ma and I sat down to eat, 
surrounded by about thirty of the Indians. They 



lO 



IN AND AROUND 



listened with great glee to the recital, by my com- 
panion, of our attempt and failure. I was made 
the butt of the major part of the fun. Wa-lu-tha-ma 
ate and ate and continued to eat, and the coffee-pot 
was twice replenished ere he had completed his 




Wa-lu-tha-ma telling the Story on our Return. 



story. Knowing the joking propensities of his 
people and their utter indifference to the feelings 
of any person out of whom they can extract a little 
fun, I was prepared for the rude jokes and vulgar 
witticisms expended upon me, and sat eating and 
drinking with the stolidity of a Hottentot — or a 
Havasupai. If they enjoyed making me the object 
of their fun I was quite willing, since I was safe out 
of the adventure. 

But I am going again some day. 



THE GRAND CANYON 311 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE GEOLOGY OF THE GRAND CANYON 

TO discuss exhaustively, in a few pages, the 
geology of the Grand Canyon, when Major 
Powell and Captain Button required large vol- 
umes for the purpose, is an evident impossibility. 
All I can do is to give an outline of their theory. 

Simultaneous with the deposition of the sedimen- 
tary strata in the ocean beds which afterwards 
became the plateaux of the Grand Canyon region, 
the uplift and subsidence consequent upon the 
cooling and contracting of the earth's surface were 
going on. For it must be remembered that in 
those early days of the earth's history its crust was 
in a far more heated, and therefore plastic condition, 
than it is now. So that when vast sedimentary 
deposits were rapidly made in any given area, the 
yielding earth subsided, and thus afforded room for 
more and higher deposits. 

These processes of deposition and subsidence 
continued until, for some reason or other, a new 
era set in. The depositions ceased, the subsidence 
was reversed, and uplift began. And ere long 
(geologically speaking ) the matter that had been 
deposited under water as sand, silt, and what not, 
now appeared above the face of the waters as solid 
rock ; that latest deposited appearing first. And, 



312 IN AND AROUND 

if the uplift continues long enough, all the strata 
thus deposited are exposed, and perhaps also the 
archaean and plutonic rocks beneath. This is what 
we actually find to be the case in the Grand 
Canyon. 

At the mouth of the Little Colorado clear evi- 
dences of uplift and subsidence are seen in con- 
nection with the non-conformable strata of the 
pre-carboniferous era. Here, with a thickness of 
about five hundred feet, strata are found, in a tilted 
condition, upon which are horizontally deposited 
the several thousand feet of the carboniferous era. 
To the geologist the history of these strata is easily 
read. It tells of ten thousand feet of rock sub- 
stance deposited horizontally upon the plutonic 
formations ^eons ago. In the uplift that followed 
their deposition they were tilted. While thus 
thrust out and tilted, denudation began. This 
undoubtedly was rapid and fierce, for ninety-five 
hundred feet were removed and washed down by 
the river. 

But the non-scientific reader asks : How do you 
know ninety-five hundred feet of strata were re- 
moved from this region .? With only five hundred 
feet left how can you assert that there were once 
ten thousand feet.f* In other words, How do you 
measure strata that are no longer there } 

The answer is simple. One could take books 
that are but a foot high and an inch thick, and, 
standing them in a tilted position, lay them together, 
as in Fig. A, side by side, for a mile. Yet they 
would be but a foot in height. But if these same 
books were placed one above another, as in Fig. B, 



THE GRAND CANYON 



313 




Fig. a. 



Fig. B. 



they would no longer be a foot, but a mile high. 
Now, instead of dealing with books, deal with 
immense layers of rock five hundred or more feet 
in thickness and covering vast areas, deposited 
originally one above another as the books are piled 
in Fior. B to a thickness of ten thousand feet. Then 
slowly tilt this mass over until the rocks are sloping, 
as are the books in Fio^. A, but of course reachino- 
far up into the air. Let the forces of erosion gnaw 
away at them for the centuries, and by the time 
they are submerged again into the ocean bed, they 
are mere fragments of their former selves. Yet if 
their measurement be taken longitudinally, it is 
apparent that this must have been their height when 
originally deposited horizontally. Consequently, 
though now they are but five hundred feet horizon- 
tally, their longitudinal measurement being ten 



3H 



IN AND AROUND 



thousand feet or thereabouts, we know that that was 
their original height. 

Standing on Ute, Comanche, or Navaho Points, 
or riding down the Red Canyon Trails, these non- 
conformable strata are beautifully apparent. 




On the Red Canyon Trail, showing Nonconformable 

Strata. Newberry Terrace and Vishnu Temple 

across the River. 



Above these non-conformable strata are to be 
found various layers of the carboniferous to a depth 
of some four thousand five hundred feet. These are 
as level and horizontal as when originally deposited. 

Here then is a demonstration that after the 
period of denudation, when the nine thousand five 
hundred feet of strata were washed away, the whole 
of this region subsided, and was again submerged. 



THE GRAND CANYON 315 

During the period of submergence millions of tons 
of sand and other sediments were washed down from 
the rocky regions above, and in the course of the 
ages made the four thousand five hundred feet 
of depositions we now find in solid rock above 
the denuded fragments of the earlier strata.- To 
account for their regularity we must assume that 
the bed of the ocean upon which they were placed 
subsided slowly and evenly to allow them to be 
deposited, and that then a new era of uplift began, 
and they were thrust out, with regularity and even- 
ness, to take their places as a part of the rocky 
crust of the exposed earth surface. 

But a study of the plateaux around and beyond 
the Grand Canyon demonstrate to the satisfaction 
of such an expert geologist as Captain C. E. Dutton 
that there used to be even ten or eleven thousand 
more feet of strata on this Grand Canyon Plateau 
region than now exist, so that, if all the strata that 
have been deposited here dliring the ages had re- 
mained, the sum would have been as follows: — 

Archjean Rocks depth unknown 

Algonkian (?) about 200 feet 

Remains of non-conformable pre-carbonifer- 

ous 500 " 

Denudation of non-conformable pre-carboni- 

ferous 9,500 " 

Carboniferous (upper and lower) . . . 4,500 " 
Permian, Jura-Trias, and Cretaceous . . 10,000 " 
Lower Eocene (lacustrine) 1,200 " 

thus giving the enormous total of twenty-five thou- 
sand seven hundred feet of sedimentary deposits. 
Imagine the height of a region nearly twenty-six 



3i6 IN AND AROUND 

thousand feet above the level of the sea. And these 
are the conservative estimates of the best informed 
experts who have spent many years in investigating 
the geological conditions of this interesting region. 

How came all these upper ten or eleven thou- 
sand feet of strata to disappear? Here is Captain 
Dutton's theory. 

Suppose the whole country were forced up from 
underneath in a dome-shaped mass, and that over 
the area of greatest elevation the rasping forces of 
nature began to gnaw away the rocks, which were 
ground into minute particles and carried away as 
sediment in a river that had a great descent, and 
therefore great transporting power ; it would not 
be long (speaking geologically) before that eleven 
thousand feet of strata would disappear. 

If this theory were a correct one, however, the 
remnants of the strata would be found in the form 
of terraces leading up from all directions towards 
this common centre, the summit of the original 
dome, and which is now the platform of the Grand 
Canyon. These terraces are found west, north, and 
east. They are met, as one journeys east and north, 
exactly as one would expect to find them, — first the 
Permian, then, further back, the Triassic, then the 
Jurassic, followed by the Cretaceous and Eocene. 

Dutton claims that this great denudation took 
place in Tertiary times. Here existed a great 
Eocene lake, which received the sediment-laden 
waters of the rivers above. Slowly the continent at 
this region began to be uplifted. The waters of the 
lake were poured out into a channel they rapidly 
carved for themselves. As the uplift continued, the 



THE GRAND CANYON 



317 



cutting down accompanied it with equal speed. 
The river, laden with rock debris, was the saw, — to 
use Major Powell's apt illustration, — and the for- 
mation of the uprising earth s crust was the log, and 
as fast as the uplifting forces supplied the log the 
saw cut through it. And these processes continued, 
until not only the eleven thousand feet of Eocene 
and Mesozoic strata were washed throneh, but the 
saw rasped into the Carboniferous, made sharper 
and keener by the destruction and removal of the 
beds of Eocene and Mesozoic which had once cov- 
ered the Carboniferous. 

And had the uplift not ceased, the sawing pro- 
cesses would have continued until many thousand 
more feet, perhaps, of the Archaean and Plutonic 
rocks had been exposed, and some of earth's most 
esoteric transactions revealed. 

And this is the theory Newberry, Powell, and 
Dutton present to us as the only rational explana- 
tion of the existence of the various canyons of the 
Colorado River. It is accepted almost without 
question by all the great geologists of the world, 
and by them is believed to be the only theory 
that satisfactorily accounts for all the existing 
conditions. 

But during all these aeons of uplift and subsi- 
dence, erosion and corrasion, were there no greater 
forces at work } Are there no evidences of earth- 
quakes, active volcanoes, and the like, to more satis- 
factorily account for this stupendous phenomenon } 
These are questions perpetually asked by those of 
less geological knowledge. 

Complex questions, indeed, yet the geologists are 



31 8 IN AND AROUND 

almost a unit in answering them. Earthquakes, vol- 
canoes, faultings, flexurings ? Yes, in great quantity, 
but as subsidiary, xioi primary, forces in the produc- 
tion of the Canyon. 

Across the Grand Canyon and Plateau regions 
over fifteen faults of stupendous magnitude are 
found to exist. Some of these are hundreds of 
miles in extent, and the displacements vary from a 
few hundreds to upwards of seven thousand feet. 
Imagine the process. A great country, of thou- 
sands of square miles of area, split in half, one 
portion remaining on the level, and the other slowly 
but surely rising seven thousand feet above its 
original level, or subsiding to that extent. 

It is the evidences of these great upheavals that 
puzzle the local and slightly informed geologists. 
They contend, and not without some show of rea- 
son, that these must have had some important 
influence in the creation and present appearance of 
the great Colorado waterway. Undoubtedly they 
have helped shape its ulterior form, but in a small 
and insignificant manner as compared with the 
great law of simultaneous uplift of the region and 
cutting down of the river's channel before outlined. 

And it should not be forgotten here, by way of 
an important parenthesis, that, comparatively speak- 
ing, during all these years of cutting and rasping 
the river retained about the same level. It neither 
raised nor lowered. It went on flowing, and cut 
down its channel as fast as the uplifting forces fed 
the rock to its sawMike waters. 

I have already described, in the chapter on the 
Mystic Spring Trail, the Wheeler Fold in Trail Can- 



THE GRAND CANYON 319 

yon. This is one of the earth's flexurings while the 
processes of upHft and subsidence and crust crump- 
lins: were soino; on. But I think it is evident that 
this took place in pre-carboniferous times, and 
therefore could not have had any influence in 
determining the course of a waterway that was 
made through strata deposited at a much later era, 
and which, as an impervious sheet, covered this and 
scores of similar folds and wrinkles throughout 
the region. The Uinkaret Mountains, which are 
clearly seen from the head of the Mystic Spring 
Trail, are purely volcanic, and their fiery floods of 
lava have poured in burning streams over the very 
edge of the Canyon's precipices, thus demonstrating 
an activity long after the Canyon was formed. 

It is not improbable that the San Francisco 
Mountains — which are all volcanic — were once 
an area of great depression in the plateau region 
whose denudation I have attempted to describe, and 
that, prior to that wholesale denudation, a chimney 
or rent in the earth's crust had afforded a vent for 
boilinof lava from the molten mass beneath. This 
lava formed a crust over the area of depression, so 
that when, subsequently, the region round about was 
eroded, this lava crust acted as a protecting cap and 
saved the region from falling a prey to the other- 
wise irresistible forces. Thus, as the degradation 
continued, the erewhile depression became a prom- 
inence, and ultimately a mountain. 

There are many other evidences of faultings, flex- 
urings, and upheaval to be observed in the canyon 
region, and in the Bibliography published at the end 
of this volume the interested student will find a list of 



320 IN AND AROUND 

those works that will aid him in his studies of these 
and all other geological phenomena connected with 
the Grand Canyon. 

That the Grand Canyon region presents to the 
geologist a fascinating and unequalled field there can 
be no question, and he who seeks to penetrate the 
mysteries of nature's primitive forces will be wise if, 
ere he travels farther, he solves the problems here 
offered for solution. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



321 



CHAPTER XXXI 

BOTANY OF THE GRAND CANYON 

I SHALL attempt no personal account of the 
botany of the Canyon, but merely introduce this 
heading to allow the insertion of two items from 
the Canyon Hotel Register at the Peach Springs 
Trail, Professor Asa Gray, of Harvard, America's 
greatest botanist, and Mrs. Gray, visited the Canyon 
May 3, 1885, and thus wrote in the register: — 



" Some conspicuous 
Fonquiera splendens, 
Acacia Lemmoni, n. sp. 
Allionia incarnata L. 



Fallugia paradoza. 
CoTwania Mexicana. 

Larrea Mexicana. 



Porophyllum. 

Eriogonum inflatum. 
Abronia turbinata. 



plants of the Canyon are : — 
" Occotillo." 
Cat's Claw. 
Flat on the ground, flowers all 

day and all the year. Shuts 

at night. 
Bush with white, rose-like flower on 

slender stalk. 
Bush like last, many greenish white 

blossoms, followed by beautiful 

feathery seed-carriers. 
The Creosote plant. So vile in 

odor that even mules will not 

eat it. 
With yellow flowers in balls, sweet 

scented, on slender twigs. 
Herb. Indian pipe-stem. 
Small flowers in cluster, white 

flowers in the sand on the river. 
21 



322 



IN AND AROUND 



Alteruanthera lanugi- Large flowers, separate. White 

nosa. flowers in the sand on the river. 

Erytheae Calycosa. Herb with red, star-shaped flowers. 

Professor and Mrs. J. G. Lemmon, of Oakland, 
California, on November 4 and 5, 1892, wrote as 
follows : — 

" First visited the Canyon April, 1884, discovering sev- 
eral new species of plants. 

Second visit, November 4 and 5, 1892. Following is a 
list of the principal plants of Peach Springs Wash and 
Diamond Creek to its confluence with the Colorado, be- 
ginning with the trees : 
Populus Wislizeni. 
Pinus edulis. 



The large poplar near the spring. 

Nut Pine. The only pine of the 
region. Sp. Pifion. 
Rare on the plateau, surrounding 

and in the Canyon. 

Western juniper. 

Long-pod mesquite, with large 
leaves and spines. 

Screw-pod mesquite, with small 
leaves and spines. 
Acacia Lemmoni, Gray, n. sp. Cat's Claw. 

Dr. Parry's dalea, shrubby bush. 

Grease wood. Commemorating 
Professor Asa Gray. "Neat but 
not gaudy," as he says. 

Green bush, quite large on the clifls 
below the spring ; a mass of in- 
tricate branches and spines. 

Shrubby black oak, the only 
oaks of the region. 

True willows, several species along 
the damp canyons. Quite large 
one is Salix longifolia with 
white, long leaves. 



Juniperus TJtahensis, 

Lemmon, n. sp. 
Juniperus Occidentalis. 
Prosopis juliflora. 

ProBopis pubescens. 



Dalea Parryi. 
Grayia polygaloides. 



Canotia holacantha. 



Quercus turbinella, 

Greene 
Saliz. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



323 



Cheilopsis saligua. 
Atriplex. 
Ephedra trifurca. 
Fenstemon Falmeri. 

P. spectabilis. 

P. Parryi. 
Salazaiia Mezicana. 



Fallugia paradoxa. 
Co'vvania Mexicana. 
Larrea Mexicana. 



Fonquiera splendens. 



Porophyllum macro- 

cephalum. 
CEnothera caespitosa. 



CBnothera albicaulis, 
Allionia incarnata. 



Desert willow. Resembles a willow, 
but bears large red bilabiate fls. 

Several species of pigweed — one 
is quite a large bush. 

Mexican Tea, a noted medicine for 
skin diseases. 

Dr. Palmer's beard tongue, — pur- 
ple, in the Canyon, large (3-5 feet 
high), very fragrant and beautiful. 
Very beautiful. Near Peach Springs 
Station — purple. 

Dr. Parry's, smaller, — red. 

Fragrant shrub of the mint family. 
Commemorates the Mexican 
member of Boundary Survey, 
— Salazar. 

Shrub with solitary white flowers. 

Shrub with many yellowish flowers. 

The noted Creosote bush, very 
strong-scented, spreading bush, 
with bilobed leaves and jointed 
stems. Even the traditional 
burro's appetite rejects this 
bush. 

*' Candlewood," from its flame- 
like flowers, and also termed 
" Occotillo " from resemblance 
to a fish-pole. Very curious, 
and tenacious of life. 

Odor of marigold. 

Large rose red, flowers numerous, 
by the very side of the Colorado 
river, fragrant. 

White evening primrose. 

Prostrate, running plant, with red 
flowers. 



324 



IN AND AROUND 



Salvia Greggii. 

Abronia turbinata. 

Menthaceous plant. 
Aster tortifolius. 

Aplopappus. 



Phacelia glechomae- 
folia. 

Phacelia Lemmoni, 

Gray, n. sp. 
Phacelia saxicola, 

Lemmon n. sp. 



Nicctiana trigonophylla. 
Argemone hispida. 

Eucnide urens, Parry. 



Hilaria rigida. 
Muhlenbergia Texana. 

Panicum Lemmoni, 

n. sp. 
Cheilanthes Parryi, 

Eaton. 
Cheilanthes tenera. 



Perhaps undescribed, red. Dia- 
mond River. 

On sand-spit at confluence of Dia- 
mond River. 

Diamond River. 

With very large showy flowers. 
Several other species along the 
Wash from Peach Springs. 

Several species, one yellow-flow 
ered, shrubby, in Diamond 
Creek. 

New species, large-flowered, very 
pretty. Will be an acquisition 
for cultivation. 
On rocks, small flowers rare. 

On rocks near Peach Springs, the 
roots penetrate the cracks of 
the rocks and flake oft" small 
convex scales, — hence the 
name. 

Indian tobacco. 

Rough Mexican poppy, flowers 4-6 
inches across. 

Clefts of rock along Diamond 
Creek, clothed with stinging 
hairs. 

Galleta grass, coarse but ver)- nu- 
tritious. 

Black Grama, fine-stemmed, very 

valuable, $60 per ton. 
Near Peach Springs Station, with 
several species. 

Parry's cotton fern, clefts of 
rocks. 

Clefts of rocks — high up on sides 
of Diamond Creek, very rare. 



THE GRAND CANYON 



325 



Cacti. 



Opuntia fulgens. 

Opuntia arborescens. 
Opuntia basilaris. 

Cereus Wislizeni. 
Cereus gigantea. 



Mammillaria phel- 

losperma. 
Mammillaria pectinata. 



Several species called " Cholla " 
(Chavv-ya) if formidable, or " Tu- 
na" if bearing eatable fruit. 

White-spined and formidable, 
bushlike. 

Quite large and terrible bushes. 

Prickly pear, common, nearly spine- 
less. 

Barrel cactus, 2-3 feet high. 

Giant cactus, 40-60 feet high, " Sn- 
guar-o" Sp. for Water Carrier, 
(pron. Swar'-o). 

Fish-hook cactus, small, 3-4 
inches high, with hooked spines 

Rainbow cactus, with bright-col- 
ored zones. 



On the Kohonino Plains bordering the Grand 
and Havasu Canyons is a thin forest of Pinus sco- 
pulorum, Lemmon (lately decided to be a distinct 
species). This is south of the Canyon, and leads 
by scattered trees back to the magnificent forest 
of the same species covering the great Colorado 
Plateau, some seventy by thirty miles in extent, and 
which is seen at its best from any high point near 
the Grand View Hotel. 

I am indebted to Professor J. G. Lemmon, of the 
Lemmon Herbarium, Oakland, California, for several 
valuable additions to this chapter. 



326 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXXII 

RELIGIOUS AND OTHER LMPRESSIONS IN THE 
GRAND CANYON 

CAN any soul look upon a masterpiece of any 
kind, the masterfulness of which is in any 
degree apparent to him, and not feel the deepest 
emotions of his nature stirred ? Marion Crawford 
well illustrates this in " Marzio's Crucifix." The 
infidelistic chiseller of silver images for churches, 
who despised creeds, churches, and priests, was yet 
so moved before a crucifix of his own manufacture 
that, as he bowed before it to study its artistic ex- 
cellence the better, his daughter, accidentally seeing 
him through the half-open door, imagined him in 
the surprising attitude (for him) of reverent and 
adoring worship. And there w\is a worship — of 
its kind. 

So, with all souls capable of feeling, the Grand 
Canyon produces — calls forth — emotions, feelings 
that, for the time being, at least, dominate all other 
feelings. 

I once rode up the mountains in a fierce storm 
with Clarence Eddy, the great organist. We were 
almost blown from our horses. But the power of it, 
— the irresistible fury of the t'.i-m, the compelling 
impetuosity of the wind, the dominating roar of its 
angry voice in the trees, made such an impression 



THE GRAND CANYON 327 

upon Mr. Eddy that he said: " This forms an epoch 
in my Hfe. I shall play better for this experience 
so long as I live." 

This is something of what I mean when I speak 
of the religious and other impressions evoked by 
the Grand Canyon. To the musician it will suggest 
new powers in his art; to the artist, new color emo- 
tions will be stirred ; to the sculptor, new forms will 
be suggested; to the architect, new majesties in 
structure will be set forth ; to the reverent believer 
in God, new conceptions of His power ; to the ag- 
nostic or disbeliever, new and strange movings of 
the soul, which speak of higher forces than any yet 
conceived. 

One man, an avowed agnostic, as he stood and 
gazed upon the vast amphitheatre of sixty-five miles' 
sweep which is opened up to the gaze at Havasupai 
Point, turned to me and said : " What a place ! 
Here is surely where the Almighty will hold the 
Judgment Day ! " 

What a long history this Canyon has had in the 
making of it ! Look back a hundred years, w^ien 
Washington and Jefferson and their compeers were 
fighting for American freedom, and this Canyon 
was hoary with antiquity. It seems a long time 
ago since Cromwell battled to overturn the doctrine 
of the divine right of kings, yet the Grand Canyon 
has scarcely added a day to its history since the 
unhappy Charles the First was beheaded. The 
dawn of American history begins with Columbus, 
yet from the time •.! Columbus until now, scarcely 
a change of any importance in this great waterway 
could be discerned by the most careful observer. 



328 IN AND AROUND 

History has begun to grow dim when you look 
back to the time when WilHam the Conqueror, 
with his wariike Normans, slew the Saxon Harold 
at Battle Abbey, yet this great and mighty river 
was then flowing as it is now. The twilight has 
become darkness when we gaze upon the Pyramids 
of Egypt, yet God had sculptured the many and 
wondrous architectural forms of this Grand Canyon 
centuries before Cheops was born, or the dynasty 
of the Shepherd Kings had gone. 

And as one listens to the teachings of the geolo- 
gists in regard to the formation of the Canyon, the 
millions of millions of years that undoubtedly have 
elapsed since its foundations were laid, the millions 
that have rolled away to allow ten thousand feet of 
non-conformable strata to be deposited, elevated, 
tilted, washed away ; the depression of the Canyon 
surface again for the depositing of Devonian, Lower 
Carboniferous, Upper Carboniferous, Permian, Tri- 
assic, Jurassic, Cretaceous; the formation of the vast 
Eocene Lake and its total disappearance ; the open- 
ing of the earth's crust and the venting from its 
angry stomach the foul lavas that blacken portions 
of its area, — the mind reels and whirls and grows 
dizzy in a vain attempt to comprehend the magni- 
tude of such periods of time, and when reason can 
assert itself it is to feel the truth of the Hebrew 
Apostle's words : " One day is with the Lord as a 
thousand years, a thousand years as one day." 

The "American style of Architecture" is not yet 
born, yet, I am satisfied the time and the master 
architect will come. And when he does come, it is 
in this Grand Canyon that he will gain his inspira- 



THE GRAND CANYON 



329 



tion. From the varied, marvellous, and sublime 
of the thousands of miles of canyon, a system of 
architecture will be created quite as original and 
national as Persia and Egypt borrowed from their 
sandstone ledges, or the inhabitants of the north of 
Europe found in the primeval forests of the fir and 
pine. 

Then who can gaze upon this weird and won- 
drous beauty and not feel that God must love beauty 
for its own sake ? The idea that everything is 
formed solely as a background upon which to dis- 
play the development of man, takes powerful grasp 
upon us when we yield ourselves to the persuasive 
eloquence of Browning, but a voice louder and more 
forceful than the great English master's peals forth 
in one's own soul when he gazes upon God's great 
work here, and he feels instinctively that the Al- 
mighty God made this glorious grandeur centuries 
of centuries before man ever could see it in order 
that He, personally, might enjoy its beauty. 

Just as the garments of Aaron the priest were to 
be made " for glory and for beauty," so do I think 
this great Canyon was made as a revelation to man 
that God loves to make things solely for " Glory 
and Beauty." 

Then its solitude ! Ah, who but those who 
know and love the solitude that shuts out the fever 
of life ; the fretful nervousness that contact with 
man produces ; the rush of busy streets ; the cold- 
heartedness, selfishness, indifference, and apathy to 
others' woes that one must see in great population 
centres, — who but he can tell the delight of this 
gracious, healing, restful solitude, where, however, 



330 IN AND AROUND 

one is never alone ? For there is an abiding sense 
of the brooding presence of the Ahiiighty, all- 
powerful, all-loving, all-merciful, that soothes and 
hushes and quiets the distressed and wounded soul, 
so that a normal equilibrium is gained and strength 
restored to return to one's place, manfully to fight 
one's true battles with the world, the Hesh, and the 
devil. To me this Canyon is the Holy of Holies, 
the Inner Temple, where each man may be his own 
High Priest, open the sacred veil, and stand face 
to face with the Divine. And he who can thus 
"talk with God" may not show it to his fellows, 
but he knows within himself the new power, calm- 
ness, and equanimity which he has gained, and he 
returns to life's struggles thankful for his glimpses 
of the Divine. 

And yet what words can tell how utterly insig- 
nificant man must feel himself to be when he finds 
himself in the depths of this Great Gorge, solitary 
and alone, and finds not this Divine presence ! He 
may be a king on his throne ; a despotic ruler in 
his office ; a monarch in his store ; a tyrant in his 
workshop; but here he is so dwarfed, made so small, 
that, if he have any soul at all, he is humbled and 
made reverent at this marvellous manifestation of 
superior power, might, and greatness. 

But it is only to suggest a few of the impressions 
aroused by these scenes that this chapter is inserted 
as a fitting conclusion to my book. 

I never take a mental view of the great river 
flowing from the high snowy mountains of Utah, 
Wyoming, and Colorado to the great Pacific 
through the Gulf of California, that I do not feel 



THE GRAND CANYON 331 

how like to man's life it is. Watch it from its source 
to its mouth. It has its rise in the pure white, un- 
sullied snow of the mountains, it flows on, gather- 
ing strength and power as it progresses ; it passes 
through Flaming Gorge, where everything is bright 
and brilliant; there is the excitement of the rapids, 
and the exhilarating feelings that come from dash- 
ing along at high speed and the dangers are mini- 
fied. Soon sweet and restful paths are entered, 
where gentle deer browse, and the " forest aisles 
are filled with the music of birds, and the parks are 
decked with flowers." 

Then comes the Canyon of Desolation, with 
everything dreary, desolate, and forsaken. But 
even here the " Lighthouse Rock " catches the rays 
of the sun and speaks of brightness beyond, which, 
indeed, is reached .when farther progress is made, 
and Glen Canyon is entered. Marble Canyon, with 
its rapids and dangers, is passed, and then the 
waters enter the Granite Gorge of the Grand Can- 
yon. Here jagged cruel rocks line the waterway, 
and there are places of deepest gloom where the 
sun never touches the water. Here are great 
waterfalls, and then deep cuts through black and 
forbidding lava. But on and on the water flows, 
enters Black Canyon, and finally emerges into the 
open, peaceful, gentle slopes of the desert, down and 
on, without effort, into the Gulf of California, soon 
to have all its individuality as a river lost in the 
vastness of the great Pacific Ocean. 

Is not this a perfect type of man's life ? He 
begins in the high mountains of innocency and 
childhood. He progresses through places where 



332 IN AND AROUND 

everything is bright and brilliant, and passes in 
safety and exhilaration places in life where others, 
perhaps, have been wrecked. Then he enters the 
soothing parks and quiet pathways, gaining strength 
and courage for the canyons where rapids must be 
run and disasters risked, and, happily, avoided. 
How joyously he welcomes open places and sun- 
shine that follow, and how disgusted with the re- 
straining influence of the "bends " of life, and then 
how sad and forsaken when he is forced into the 
Canyon of Desolation! Friends have forsaken him, 
loved ones gone, perhaps even God seems to have 
left him to himself, but as he looks up, even here 
he sees the sun of grace shining upon the Light- 
house Rocks that raise their heads above the 
Canyon walls, and new hope, new faith, new en- 
couragement are the result. 

And alas ! he, too, may have to contend with 
" Dirty Devil" streams flowing into his life, which 
will becloud and befoul the hitherto pure w^aters. 
But, as in the Colorado River, by and by the 
Bright Angel Creek, with full, clear, pellucid, refresh- 
ing, and purifying power enters in. 

And so his life flows on, passing through canyons 
and rapids, dashing by the cruel, hungry granite 
and over dangerous waterfalls ; but just as surely as 
the river flows on and enters the Great Pacific, so 
will man enter the unfathomable ocean of the heart 
of God. 

So, friend, reader, whomsoever you may be, and 
in whatever portion of your canyon journey, may 
I commend the end of life to you as your en- 
couragement. If you are in the refreshing parks 



THE GRAND CANYON 



333 



there may be Desolation Canyons ahead. Get all 
the strength and courage you can; you will need 
these and all the virtues ere the end of your journey 
is reached. Have you just entered the cruel water- 
way and been dashed over great precipices and find 
yourself crushed and bleeding where the sun never 
shines .f* Flow on! Ere long you will emerge into 
the sunshine, and in the bosom of God forever find 
rest. 



334 IN AND AROUND 



CHAPTER XXXIII > 

PHOTOGRAPHING THE GRAND CANYON 

UNTIL recently there were few subjects more 
disappointing to the photographer — pro- 
fessional as well as amateur — than the Grand 
Canyon. Its vastness, its great precipices and wide 
distances, all covered and filled with a peculiar 
purple or violet haze, rendered it singularly un- 
accommodating to the photographer's art. In the 
Yosemite and similar valleys the objects are so 
near, compared with those of the Grand Canyon, 
that photography was enabled to accomplish for 
the former what for years it could not achieve for 
the latter. 

But as in all difficulties capable of scientific so- 
lution, persistence, skill, and science at length have 
overcome the obstacles to excellent picture-making 
to a great extent, and now good photographs of the 
Grand Canyon may be obtained. And in the fore- 
front of those who have studiously worked for a 
solution of the many problems involved is Mr. 
Frederic Hamer Maude, of Los Angeles, who for 
several years has visited the Canyon, making hun- 
dreds of negatives, and learning from his failures 
the secrets of success. The result is an excellent 
selection of most artistic and desirable subjects. 
From the Red Canyon Trail to the Topocobya 



THE GRAND CANYON 335 

Trail into Havasu Canyon he has seized upon 
almost every available point to secure grand and 
comprehensive views of the Eastern, Surprise, and 
Western Outlooks. From the interior plateaux he 
has made photographs of mural masses crowned 
with fleecy clouds that are triumphs. He has most 
successfully caught the varying moods of this most 
moody of American rivers, and its rapids, whirlpools, 
and smooth stretches have all pictured themselves 
upon his sensitive films. In his studies of the 
Havasupai Indians, the waterfalls, limestone caves, 
and general environments of their wondrous canyon 
home he has been no less successful, and this book 
owes many of its illustrations to his skilful en- 
deavors. 

Another photographer who has met with admi- 
rable success is Mr. A. F. Messinger, of Phoenix, 
Arizona. He has spent considerable time and 
energy at Bass Camp, Havasupai Point, and has 
a number of fine subjects from all the salient out- 
look points. With a persistent energy that would 
have daunted and discouraged most men, he labored 
day after day on the rim and on the plateaux below 
with his large twenty by twenty-four outfit, mak- 
ing gigantic panoramas twenty inches high and 
eight feet in length. Two or three exquisite pic- 
tures such as these, printed on bromide or platinum 
surfaces, giving the wide sweep of Canyon from rim 
to opposite rim, afford one a clearer comprehension 
of the architectural variety found within the Canyon 
walls than pages of verbal description. On one 
occasion, when taking his large camera down the 
steep trail to Le Conte Plateau, the pack mule, 



33^ 



IN AND AROUND 



just at the most ticklish portion of the road, ob- 
jected to his weighty and top-heavy pack, and 
sought to rid himself of it. Kicking and plunging, 
he became oblivious to his danger. Lenses and 
knick-knacks scattering about his heels rendered him 

more reckless, and 
with a desperate 
plunge he landed 
head first on a slop- 
ing ledge, a foot be- 
tween himself and 
death. With reckless 
bravery Mr. Bass 
dashed upon the pros- 
trate animal and sat 
upon his head. Mr. 
Mes singer, deter- 
mined to hang on to 
his precious camera 
outfit, clung to the 
mule's rope with des- 
perate earnestness, 
and between the two 
the animal was 
hoisted to a place of 
safety, his pack adjusted, and the trip completed 
without further contretemps. On another occasion, 
while on the very edge of the Grand Scenic Divide, 
a sudden storm arose, which nearly blew camera 
and operator into the deep gulf beneath. But, re- 
gardless of dangers and difBculties, Mr. Messinger 
persisted, and his excellent collection of superb 
photographs is his reward. 




Lyell Monument in the Corner 
OF Standing Rocks. 



THE GRAND CANYON 337 

The engraving of Lyell Monument, from the 
" Corner of Standing Rocks " on Havasupai Point, 
is one of Mr. Messinger's choice pieces. 

Other photographic artists — as H. G. Peabody, 
of Boston, Massachusetts — have made fine pictures 
of the Canyon, and some of Mr. Peabody's artistic 
creations grace these pages by his favor. 

But without question the finest, the most elabo- 
rate and satisfactory work yet done photographi- 
cally in the Grand Canyon, has been accomplished 
by Mr, Oliver Lippincott of the Lippincott Art 
Photographic Company of Los Angeles, Cal. Mr. 
Lippincott has made a large number of photo- 
graphs, taking in all the principal trails from the 
Red Canyon to the Mystic Spring and Topocobya 
Trail into Havasu Canyon. He has been pre- 
eminently successful in his large panorama work, 
making panoramas six and seven feet long and one 
to three feet wide. Photographically they are per- 
fect ; the mechanical work is the best of its kind, 
and of the art shown in securing the subjects, in 
choosing locations, and in placing upon the sensi- 
tive paper those scenes that were especially im- 
pressive to the Canyon visitor, too many words of 
praise cannot be said. Until photography in colors 
becomes an accomplished reality it seems to me 
that nothing can surpass Mr. Lippincott's Canyon 
photography. Especially should attention be called 
to his panorama from Comanche Point, taking in 
the river, Vishnu Temple, Point Final, Newberry 
Terrace, and the massive North Wall of the Kai- 
bab Plateau. Another panorama is from Havasupai 
Point overlooking the region of the Mystic Spring 



338 IN AND AROUND 

Trail, showing Point Sublime, Dutton Point, Bass 
Tomb, Dox Castle, and the Grand Scenic Divide. 
To own such pictures as these is to possess those 
things that are "a joy forever." 

On his trip to the Mystic Spring Trail Mr. Lip- 
pincott descended to the river, making pictures 
from the Grand Scenic Divide, and all the way 
down Trail Canyon. Then crossing the river, he 
made several fine pictures of Shinumo Creek and 
Camp. He is now contemplating a trip which will 
take him across to the summit of the Kaibab 
Plateau, where, from Point Sublime, he will photo- 
graph those scenes that hitherto we have had no 
pictorial record of except in the admirable outline 
sketches, before described, made by Professor 
Holmes. 



THE GRAND CANYON 339 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GRAND 
CANYON REGION 

" Relacion de la Jornada de Cibola Conpuesta por 
Pedro de Castenada de Nagera." The original of this 
narrative is in the Lenox Library, New York. A fine 
translation, with critical notes, by GEORGE Parker Win- 
SHIP, is in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau 
of Ethnology. 

" Report upon the Colorado River of the West," by 
Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives. Executive Document No. 
90, published by order of the Secretary of War, 1861. 

" U. S. Geographical Surveys West of the looth Meri- 
dian," by Captain Geo. M. Wheeler. Vol. I., Geographi- 
cal Report, pp. 156 to 171, with many plates, devoted to 
the Exploration of Colorado River and the lower portion 
of the Grand Canyon. 

" Explorations of the Colorado River of the West, 
1869-72," by Major J. W. PowELL. U. S. Government 
Printing Office. 

" The Journeyings of F. Francisco Silvestre Velez Es- 
calante from Santa Fe to Utah Lake," etc. In Simpson's 
" Across the Great Basin in 1859." 

" On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer." The Diary and 
Itinerary of Francisco Garces. Translated by ELLIOTT 
COUES. 2 Vols. F. P. Harper, New York. 

" Explorations in Texas, New Mexico, California," etc., 
by J. R. Bartlett, U. S. Commissioner of the Mexican 
Boundary Commission, New York, 1856. 

" Military Reconnoissance from Ft. Leavenworth to San 
Diego, by Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Emory. 



340 



IN AND AROUND 



" March from Santa Fe to San Diego, Cal.," by Colonel 
P. St. George Cooke. 

" Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District," by 
Captain C. E. DUTTON. U. S. Geol. Survey Monographs, 
No. 2. With large atlas. 

" The Physical Geology of the Grand Canyon District," 
by C. E. DUTTON. Second Annual Report U. S. Geologi- 
cal Survey. 

" Report of the Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe, 
New Mexico, to the Junction of the Grand and Green 
Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West in 1859," by 
Captain J. N. Macomb, Engineer Department, U. S. 
Army, 1876. 

" Geology of the Uinta Mountains," by J. W. Powell, 
Department of the Interior, 1876. 

" Geology of the Henry Mountains," by G. K. Gilbert, 
Dept. of the Interior, 1880. 

" Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah," by C. E. 
DUTTON, Dept. of the Interior, 1880. 

"The Upper Colorado," Nature, p. 337, Feb. 15, 1877. 

"The Canyons of the Colorado," by Major J. W. 
Powell, Scribner's Mag. Vol. IX. Three articles, pp. 

293. 394. 523- 

" Physical P'eatures of the Colorado Valley," by Major 
J. W. Powell, Popular Science Monthly, Vol. VII. Three 
articles, pp. 385-531-670. 

"The Great Canyon," by Major J. W. Powell. Sub- 
scription Book, published by the Chautauquan Co. 

" An Overland Trip to the Grand Canyon," by J. W. 
Powell, Scribner's Mag., Vol. X, p. 659. 

" The Geological History of the Colorado River and 
Plateaus," by C. E. DUTTON, Nature, Jan, 16, 1879, 
p. 247, Jan. 23, 1879, p. 272. 

In Nature, Feb. 15, 1883, p. 357, ARCHIBALD Geikie 
reviews Captain Dutton's " Tertiary History of the Grand 
Canyon District." 

" The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft," 39 Vols., 
San Francisco, Cal. 



THE GRAND CANYON 341 

" Through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado," by 
Robert Brewster Stanton, p. 591, Scribner's Mag., 
1890, Vol. VIII. 

" Availability of the Canyons of the Colorado River of 
the West for Railway Purposes." Transactions of Ameri- 
can Society of Civil Engineers, No. 523, April, 1892. 

In the American Naturalist, May, 1890, p. 463, notes 
are given of " R. B. Stanton's Recent Descent of the 
Colorado River." 

" Through Mysterious Canyons of the Colorado," by 
F. A. NiMS, Overland Monthly, Vol. XIX, p. 253. 

" In the Whirlpools of the Grand Canyon of the Colo- 
rado," by Ethan Allen Reynolds, Cosmopolitan, No- 
vember, 1889. 

" Grand Canyon of the Colorado," by J. G. Lemmon, 
Overland Monthly, Vol. XII, p. 244. Sept., 1888. (A fine 
article.) 

" The Grand Canyon of Arizona," by C. A. HiGGlNS, 
Passenger Department of the Santa Fe Route. 

Charles Dudley Warner's " Our Italy " contains 
two good chapters on the Grand Canyon. 

" Hand-Book to Arizona," by R. J. Hinton. 

" The Grand Canyon of the Colorado," by Henry 
Haynie, Boston, Mass., Sunday Herald, July 26, 1896. 

" The Grand Canyon," by John L. Stoddard, in Stod- 
dard's Lectures, Boston, Mass., Vol. X. 

" The Nation of the Willows," by F. H. CUSHING, At- 
lantic Monthly, September and October, 1882. 

"Our Undeveloped West," by J. HANSON Beadle, 
National Pub. Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 

■ " On the Border with Crook," by JOHN G. BoURKE. 
Scribner's, 1896. 

" Under the Spell of the Grand Canyon," by T. Mitchell 
Prudden. " Harper's Magazine, August, 1898. 

" Photographs of the Grand Canyon," by H. G. Peabody, 
Fred Harvey, Kansas City, 1900. 



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